


Child Like Wonders

by FancyKetchup



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Dark, Feral Behavior, Fluff and Angst, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mono cares, Mono is trying his best, Mostly Fluff, Multiple Realities, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Puppy Love, Slow Burn, Static Walking, TOO MUCH, Tags May Change, Taxidermy, The Hunter (little nightmares) - Freeform, a lot of meat mentioned, it's six, mention Of meat, mono needs a hug, not always, not my head cannon, nothing creepy happens between them, only a little, six also needs a hug, six is feral like, six is sometimes mute, six is the hunter's daugther, talk of meat, they're KIDS, to what?, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29971941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyKetchup/pseuds/FancyKetchup
Summary: "Ew, don't eat that." Mono slaps the fish out of 6's hand. She lets out a sad snarl as it slaps onto the pavement and into the sewage. She'll eat a lot of nasty things but sewage? Count her out. When she whips around to stare at Mono he looks like he's cringing too. "I just wanted to lower you hand not-i didn't MEAN to slap it into the-here." He stumbles on his words but Mono shoves old bread at 6."it's...not meat." She sniffles out fat tears gathering into her eyes. "I KNOW IT's not meat!" Mono starts off loud and panicked as 6 starts to cry. She struggles to stop her grin as she fake cries.
Relationships: Mono/Six (Little Nightmares)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 176





	1. Chapter 1

The music was nice at the very least, he thought. It came from a music box which was being cranked by the child also in the room. With a little hope, Mono tried once more to gain this kids’ trust. Softly he let out a ‘psst’ and stuck his arm out from the cage he sat in.

The music chime stuttered for a moment, halting in its wonderful sounds. He can’t clearly see the kid in the room, the cage door was angled slightly, and the only thing Mono can really see is the door with its busted bottom and clearly shut. But there was only one other thing in this hunter house that _can_ crank a child’s music box. Waving his arm up and down Mono can only pray that the movement will finally alert the other kid that **_maybe_** , they should free Mono and escape this place together?

But the music kicked back up again and so did the sound of someone stomping around above the basement. Heaving out a sigh Mono tucks his arm back into the cage box and listens to the music playing. The cage is wooden all around with the only wall having bars being the door to the cage. It’s the type of cage a hunter would use to trap prey inside and make it seem like the prey is safe. Like those abandon cat carriers Mono would spot around the Pale City. You know, before he made it to the forest island and before he got scooped up by a hunter.

It was dumb really, how he got caught in the first place. After he escaped the burning building full of other kids and made it to the forest, he had climbed a tree. To read the stars and see where he needed to move towards next, then he heard the shuffling of tiny feet and the snaps of twigs underweight. Mono whipped his head around so fast he had popped the bones in his neck, under the moonlight and on the roots of a tree was a dirty looking child. Hair was mangled and just sticking everywhere but they had on a blue shirt. Holes and other tears littered the shirt and their shorts had mud all over them.

But the ratty looking child had their teeth bared and heavy breathes escaped into the night air. If anything, the child looked like some sort of wild animal on the hunt for something. They both stared at one another before a real monster came forth from behind the wild child, a real ragged breathing came forth and flooded the forest sounds. A harsh artificial light covered the look of this giant monster, but it sure did a wonderful job at highlighting the gun it wielded. Tucking himself closer to the tree trunk, hoping that the…. hunter’s child-turned-bloodhound wouldn’t point at him and say, “Shoot there! Right there!”

The sharp clap of wing beats broke the ragged breathing of the monster, two crows squawked and chirped before they took to the air. A big mistake as the gun shone in the moonlight and the lantern’s light and with two mind shattering BANGS they crumbled to the floor. Black feathers fluttered and slowly scattered around Mono and onto the tree. He clutched down onto the paper bag he wore; his hands shaking and knuckles white from the loudness of the gun shot. ‘ **HE SHOT! HE SHOT THE GUN!?** ’ was all that rung in his head along with the ringing the gun did cause to him. The other child, the one that lead the gunsmith to Mono’s tree scuttled forward—Mono thought he saw them crawl on all fours—and grabbed the crows by their necks. They snarled out something, waving the two birds above their head before hurrying behind the hunter. The light being their only way to follow behind. ‘WHAT was _THAT_?’

He shouldn’t have gone down that night, after spending three days and two nights staying in the trees his curiosity got the best of himself and Mono climbed down a great oak tree. “ow, ow” he mumbled shaking his palms and feet once he hit the mossy roots on the ground floor. Everything was back to being big again and Mono thought back to the loud gun shot that one night. During his whole time here in the forest he would hear distant shots being fired or even a loud snap and a thud. Clearly there are many, many traps around this forest but that wasn’t going to stop him. Mono just HAD to see what the hell was going on here. Which lead him to the very cage he got trapped inside of. After bypassing a lot of traps, some with humans and some with animals Mono had stumbled upon the cabin. Boxes littered the front yard, so did dirty spoons and empty cans. He even picked up a can to read the label—the one he held was labeled for peaches. So clearly someone was living here. The other hit was the clearly visible light turn on.

Now Mono was no idiot.

He’s lived long enough to understand when something isn’t quite right.

The cabin light being on was something to worry about. The hunter and his little child-bloodhound was another.

They both needed a place to safely live in.

What did he find? A cabin with running light! Who _else_ did it belong too?

Jolted from his stance, like he touched a TV wrong, Mono dropped the canned peaches he was holding and much like a rat he scurried to the safety of a tree. Its roots twisted and raised just right for him to slot himself in the shadows. Hopefully the mud around the cabin didn’t catch his footprints or the fact that he slipped and fell also. Cringing he can clearly see the shape of his bag and even his body he had left behind. ‘How unlucky...’ Was all Mono can think when he climbed up the bark, it was a mark that showed the hunter that there was something running around close to his hut. This was a problem because Mono never saw any other animal near this part and because the traps set were arranged in a way meant to keep the animals from coming close but allowing the hunter to move around freely.

He was lured back down a few days later, with the promise of food from all those cans thrown around. Maybe one of them was still sealed shut and Mono can eat from it? It was his only hope at this point, he doesn’t trust seeking out one of the traps in fear of being caught. As he dug around in the boxes, pulling empty cans out and other rusty items he stopped. There was a creak in the cabin, like shuffling before the place settled. It’s been safe the past few days, no hunter or child-bloodhound came out from the door and nothing was really heard from inside it either. So Mono dug around once again, just betting on the idea that “Hey it didn’t open the first few days why would it now?” But he was oh so wrong, when with a heavy tug Mono was thrown out of the box and onto the mud. “Oof,” was all Mono gasped out before feeling the tugging on his coat.

Scrambling forward, hands sliding on the mud Mono fought the tug which ended up blindsiding him as his paper bag was tilted and the holes no longer showed him what was happening. What he did know was that the thing that grabbed his coat was the child-bloodhound. How did he know this? Well for one he can hear the child like snarling and huffing the kid was giving out and Mono is at least 90% sure the thing bit his arm. “Ow! Hey! Knock it off!” The good thing was the kid was so terribly underfed that he held the kiddo back with just his own child strength. All he got was more heavy huffing and then his arm sleeve shook much like a dog would with a toy. The thought had him giggling before he used a shoulder to right his skewed mask.

The kid was still chomping down on his arm, their tiny fists dug into his chest and his hip most likely to pin him down, and their thin feet dug into the mud. It was a strange sight for mono, was this kid raised to be like a hunter’s dog? Or are they so wild and feral that they act like a dog. “U-uhm.” Every time Mono mumbled the tugging on his arm started up again.

This was awkward on his end, is it the same for them?

Using his free arm, he pushed at their forehead, hoping to dislodge the kid but they held on fast. “What!? Do you have sharp teeth?” He rushed out kicking the mud under him and trying to sit better with this leech on him. They only let out a growl, which sounded so NOT human like. But they had to be? With nothing else too lose (and the thought that maybe the hunter was close by, after all Mono saw the two come forth from the shadows like a duo, the kid first and then the hunter; this kid came first during this scuffle, is the hunter close behind?) Mono stuck his hand right where it would tickle on any other kid.

That is hoping this animal like kid IS human.

Nothing happened at first before the being clinging to him let go to wheeze out a giggle. Wiggling his fingers into the child’s ribs (which stuck out too much for Mono’s liking) and they let out a giggle before kicking at Mono and hitting his lower ribs. It made distance between the two, but Mono was left winded for a moment. This child is strong! Not only that but they didn’t leap back at him as he laid in the mud gathering his lungs. They sat hunched in the mud, hands dug under the goop and knees drowning in the mud. “A-are you-?” Mono started to ask, turning his head towards the kid. His words died out when they sat up straighter, interest peaked once more by Mono. “Please don’t attack me again.” He mumbled but that wasn’t what happened.

Instead of the child lunging for his leg and chomping down again Mono had a big old trap dropped on top of him. The bottom was open leaving the other sides with bars. Ah, so he was right! The hunter was indeed right behind this feral child, who when he looked at them from between the bars had been covered from head to toe in the mud.

Like a wet dog from a cartoon Mono saw in passing, the child shook themselves and splattered mud everywhere. They stood up them, jumped up and down and whispered something to the beast that stood over Mono’s cage.

That’s the story! How Mono got trapped and them promptly thrown into the basement room. Which he can only assume is the feral kid’s room. Mostly because Mono can hear them shuffling around in the room every hour unless its ‘hunting’ time or when they sleep. Sometimes they would stick their arms through the bars, as much as they could from the awkward angle and try and grab ahold of Mono. The first time he allowed that to happen they pulled him towards the bar and he knocked his elbow into the metal bars leaving a nasty blue bruise. Never again did he allow them to grab a limb.

Sometimes they had tugging matches, like a tug o’ war game. He would grasp their hands (first time he dared that they tried to flinch back, but Mono held on fast.) and they would squeeze back and Mono can feel the excitement of the game surge into this unknown kid. They had soft hands oddly, like running around in the woods chasing birds and rats didn’t weather on their hands but the ends where like claw tips. Sharp and would maim Mono if he allowed it. Then after a heartbeat on his end, a single huff on the other end they would start this mini game of tug o’ war. Most of the time the no-named child won, with his feet bracing himself Mono made sure not to get his head slammed into the cage whenever this feral kid won a match. When that happened, they would slink their arms out of Mono’s cage, and he can hear the childish wheeze of joy as they celebrate their win. Then their claw tips would rattle on the box side, in a silent way of ‘can we play again? Maybe twice? Oh, maybe three times?’ which if Mono still had feeling in his arms, he would rap back on the box wall and the game started once more.

But recently Mono’s…friend hasn’t been into tug o’ war anymore, instead they sit somewhere in this dank room and they crank the music box over and over. He’s not sure the reasoning behind it, but he hopes it isn’t because the kid recently experienced some type of trauma. That’s when he really started to get this kids attention, to oh he doesn’t know—LET HIM OUT.

“Psssstt,” Mono hissed out waving his arm out once again. The music stuttered to a stop this time. Then the sounds of footsteps coming closer, and finally a tiny clawed hand slipped into Mono’s hand. They squeezed back hard, and Mono was thrown for a loop.

“huh?” He gasped out before softly squeezing their hand back. Softer because this hand he is holding feels so thin…. has this kid ate anything? “W-who are you?” Mono whispered, pressing his bag head to the metal bars. He can see the arm to the hand he held. They defiantly haven’t had anything to eat. Mono can also see the blue sleeve they wore, it’s still muddy from the first time they tackled Mono. There was no answer at first but Mono did hear the kid shuffle closer, and the breath of them as they too tried to peer at Mono. “Six.” Came a raspy voice. A girl voice. ‘o-oh, he’s holding hands with a girl.’

“C-cool, I’m…I’m Mono.” He whispered back squeezing her hand back in his nervous energy. Gods, can he get any lamer? (faintly he recalls their first meeting in the mud, and he is kind of upset that a girl of all things bit and winded him in one kick.) He hears her whispering giggles before he larches his hand forward and makes him bang his paper bag covered head on the metal bars. Hissing pass his teeth Mono braces his knees on the cage just to be safe and uses his one free hand to rub at his new wound. There’s loud giggling coming from outside the cage, which Mono sound be offended by, but the gentle rubbing on his knuckles soothes his frayed nerves.

She’s sorry, even if she found it funny.

“It’s okay—” but it wasn’t when the Hunter’s wheezing came down the stairs. With a sort of chirp Six pulled away and scuttled back to her spot in her room. Slowly, Mono let his arm fall before he pulled it back into the cage. It was hunting time, that’s the only reason the Hunter wondered down the basement stairs. That or he’s grabbing something from the room next door. Six is letting out whispering words and sometimes she says a word Mono understands. “birds” “Grass” “Sea” and lastly “Meat”. (he wonders if Six knows how to speak? Can she read? Write? What does she know?)

After all that Mono is alone once again. He heard Six squeak in pain, but that was all.

Maybe he can convince Six to at least turn his cage around so he can see her in the room, or give him more scraps of veggies, all this meat he gets is overwhelming.

Mono gets woken up by a door slamming shut and a very much screeching Six. There’s a thud and more snarls that sound to alike an animal, but Mono knows by now that it’s just a upset Six. The heavy foot falls of the Hunter is heard stomping around outside the room before three loud knocks to the wooden door has Six shutting up. She huffy and snorty like a angry pig but no longer is she being so loud. _Should_ Mono be worried? He’s stuck inside a cage, but that cage is inside the room with a very _unhappy_ Six.

The floorboard above creak and shutter with dust falling before a door is slammed shut. The house is left alone to the kids now. Humming, Mono leans on the metal bars, hoping to catch a very vivid Six. No other reason then to see what she would look like _other_ then being feral. But he doesn’t get that instead his eyes are poked out and he lets out a yelp covering his now wounded eyes. Six’s laughter follows right after before her grabby little claws are snatching at his coat sleeves. “Six! Why did you do that?” Mono hissed rubbing his palms into his eyes.

All he gets is a airy type of giggle before her clawed hands are groping his wrists asking (more like demanding) to be held. Snaked out from under his bag mask, Mono begrudgingly hold the girl’s hands and listens to the way she purrs. “What? How can you _purr?_ ” He asks, amazed but also worried. She is a human kid, right?

She laughs again, then attempts to pull Mono closer to the metal bars but he braces his knees on the bars and he can feel her pouting. “Hey, Six can you turn my cage?” Mono whispers out, tapping his fingers along her bruised knuckles. There’s dried blood scattered on her pale skin and Mono really, really does try not to think about it. His ‘friend’ hums, taps his knuckles back with her claws before recoiling away. The movement is sharp and fast enough to make his pointer fingers pop and crack. Then there’s the screeching sound of his cage being shifted and turn. And….and then there is the view of the room. Bathed in moonlight and the air is cool and chilly. Flinching away from the sudden view of Six, Mono groans as Six is blocking his first view of her room. She’s all teeth and smiles, which where oddly sharp and _very_ dangerous but there’s comfort in her shape.

The shape of another child in this nightmarish world. Reaching through the bars, Mono offers his palm to the girl. Who meets him halfway and clasps her claws into a hand hold.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you okay?" Mono asks. Six just grumbles, laying still where she fell and doesn't react any more then that.

With his newfound cage front Mono got to see a lot of interesting things. For one it was indeed Six cranking the music box. She pulls it out from the shadows of her overly huge bed and sits on the rug and just cranks the handle like mad. But there’s a type of love in the way she winds the thing up. The other thing Mono got to see was the mad doodles she had all over the wall. The signal tower, sadly, takes up the whole wall her bed is pressed against. Whilst the other two walls he can see is covers in tally marks or with the doodles of humans with scribbled out circles for heads.

  
It’s all too much info and not enough. Is Six trapped in here? Forced to be a type of bloodhound for the Hunter? What was she counting the days for? He made sure to turn around every time she went to sleep however; he **WILL NOT** watch Six no matter what. Even if he is 100% sure she watches him when he sleeps.(It’s that sixth— _HAH! What a pun—_ one develops when you want to survive in a world that is a giant nightmare) Six is also the one to bring _meat_ to Mono, she waits by the door, sitting on her dirty floorboards and just stares up at the doorhandle which is just conveniently too high for a small child.

Then the heavy fat footsteps of the hunter come filtering down the stairway and the handle jiggles and jerks. Mono got the amazing view of a _VERY_ excited and happy Six as she stands up suddenly, jumps up and down and even does a few quick circles. It’s all adorable behavior that has Mono clutching his bag and pulling it down farther onto his face. Then the squawk of a very offended Six has him releasing his hold to see what caused Six to be so upset. Only, he mistook the sound as being offending when it was just Six having her head affectionately ruffled by the glove of the Hunter. He must kneel slightly, to reach the height of Six but he still uses one hand to ruffle and rub Six’s hair everywhere.

When he pulls away Six’s hair is all tangles and it sticks up everywhere, but it did do the job of showing the single beauty mark she has near her mouth. Neither say anything after that show only the heavy ragged breathing of the hunter through his sack mask and the movement of him tossing a bag into the room. It sounds like a bag of fruits (which Mono doubts but he’s still hopeful) and then Six chirps and rolls her wrists up at the Hunter. He lifts the arm with the tear in the shoulder, copies Six’s gesture then sharply points at the bag and then at Mono’s cage. The Hunter’s point made Mono flinch hard enough that he bangs his head on the top of the box. It throbs a bit but one rub from his hand has the pain going away. ‘Pain, pain go away—wait that’s not how it goes.’

There’s stuffing left behind from the Hunter. After he left, he shut the door with a bang and that was that. Six did a wonderful job, Mono suppose, of shoving a chunk of meat through the metal bars and even ONE wild carrot. “It was mud in it.” He mumbled out wiping as much of the dirt he can. Six snorts roughly, mockingly mimics Mono before chewing into her own chunk of meat. It’s twice her size but she clutches it in her claws and between her knees to rip and maim at the thing next to Mono’s cage. Mono gags at the sight, of meat being torn by canine teeth and the way Six seems _very_ happy from the red flesh pass the skin. Whatever this meat is must be a favorite of Six. Disgust shown, Mono shoves his chunk pass the bars, wipes his palms on his pants before hugging the carrot closer.

Six doesn’t hesitate to snag the piece closer to her side, one side eye thrown into the cage before she dines in. “I like veggies.” Mono explains hastily seeing her weird look Six gave him. “I—I don’t want any meat.” Six this time gasps, almost chokes on her mushed-up meat before she spits it out on the floor and yells. “NO!?” It’s high pitched but it reminds Mono of windchimes. “What’s wrong with that!?” Mono responds back pulling his carrot away from a suddenly grabby Six. She’s reaching for his wild carrot and Mono doesn’t want his meal taken away from him. So he swats and swipes at Six’s hands (Which is harder then he thought, her reflexes are so FAST) and before he knows it Six thinks it’s a type of game between the two. ‘Play? Play?’ is just screaming from how Six moves her arms and her claws around Mono’s hits. “No! No play! You’re trying to steal by diner!” Mono cries out hoping this animal kid will tire out soon.

Turns out Six has a lot and Mono means A LOT of energy.

And turns out, Mono ended up falling asleep clutching his wild carrot and snoring away leaning on the bars.

(By that time Six did catch a hold on Mono and gently, for once, pulled him closer to the bar.)

She stared at the outline of Mono, who looked like a mama bird with the way he held the carrot to his chest. Curled around it to stop anyone from taking it. From her but she wasn’t going to _do_ anything! Just maybe take it away and try giving him real food. But during their game Mono had fallen asleep, leaving Six to just crouch by his cage and stare. He also wore a mask, like her father does. But this mask isn’t so terrible. For one the smell of it doesn’t irritate Six’s nose like Father. It just smells of sweat and raindrops, whilst her father’s mask reeks of mud and the iron tang of blood. (Unlike normally the blood that comes from Father has Six scrunching her nose and gagging; its not the same tang of blood that comes from freshly bit into meat).

Mono is LIKE Father.

Father is NOT like Mono,

They are NOT the same.

Are they?

Six knows for sure Mono isn’t from the Root Forest because when Father broke down the other cabin’s and the five of them had diner for days. Mono was never apart of those families. So, this unknown-yet-known child is from outside the forest island. Excitement zips and tingles across Six’s arms and has her closing and opening her claws. She’s never been _outside_ the Root Forest, the most Father let her wander was the Romain Family’s hut. Where she caught a fish once and promptly ate it. Without any remorse for Mono, Six jabbed a finger into the exposed side of the boy. (Six will have to teach Mono that exposing soft spots like that is bad. Very very bad)

He jerks away, hitting his aknle on the bars and hissed. Six also hissed back, not baring her teeth at him so much. After all he only hissed in pain and not to warn her of anything. “What?” He whispers, moving a hand under his paper bag. It turns towards Six who is waving her palms in the air and trying to _show_ him what she wants to say.

(Father doesn’t talk, so Six never realy learned how to talk either)

(they talk via snarls, whispers and other animalish sounds Six can make)

“I don’t know what your saying.” Mono mumbles out, bringing his carrot under his bag as well.

The movement catches Six’s eye, has her arms stilling in the air as she just takes in the image. “Eat!?” She gasps slamming her claws onto the bars. “Yes???” Mono chokes out startled from the sound. “Bag? Bag?” Six gasps out, the word harsh on her throat and making her frown. Mono only thumbs at his mask, but he doesn’t remove it. Why doesn’t he? “Ugly? Mono ugly!?” Six gasps out pushing her arms through the bars and clutching at any loose cloth on Mono.

“I’M NOT UGLY!”

Six bursts out into laughter, her smile is wide, and she loosens her grab on him. She can hear him snort as well before he places a cold hand onto her own. It catches her off guard because he was never this cold before. Without thought her claws circle around Mono’s one hand as he rambles away. “…I just don’t feel comfortable showing my face.” It’s all muffled to Six, whatever he says doesn’t _really_ matter because Father also wears abag.

(It was a new thing, after he laid on the dirty forest floor for 2 weeks, he stirred awake, and sat up. Six was living in the woods around the area Father laid in. He had told her to keep hunting those rabbits and rats. Then she heard a bang and he had a hole in his bagged head. Father left a pool of blood around the area his head laid in. ’Sorry’ His movements said as he stumbled back home with Six in tow. ‘For what?’ She moved slowly after him, struggling to keep pace as Father limped. ‘I almost left you.’ ‘You came back.’ ‘Sadly.’)

“Hmm hmm.” Six isn’t sure what words she was trying to say, maybe a ‘It’s okay, you’re like my dad!’ but she isn’t sure if Mono can read what she was trying to say because he answers her back with a, “I’m not taking it off to eat.” Which just means Mono has _NO IDEA_ how to read. She snarls softly at him before tugging at his hand. He only jolts in place, knees stopping Six’s attempt at pulling him closer. ‘You’re cold!’ she tries to convey through her tugs. ‘I’m warm! Get closer or you’ll die!’.

Cold things always die.

Six didn’t want Mono to die.

“oh hey,” Mono’s soft words has Six freezing. It’s almost like a whisper and it is something she understands. “mm?” She echos leaning forward. “Can you bust me out?” Mono replies finishing off his carrot. He still holds Six’s hands in his own. Clasped close and slowly his cold hands get warmer. “Out?” Six isn’t sure she can do that.

(‘Snack.’ Her Father said, in the way he kicked open the cabin door. ‘Meal?’ Six scuttles fast, under the heavy boots of Father as he leads the way. ‘Later, later…trophy.’ Is what Father settles with, passing the room filled with stuffing and cotton. ‘OH—trophy! Trophy!’.)

“mm mm Maybe.” Six settles with, forcing the words out. Grandma often said that to Father. Whenever he brought home moose or deer to get stuffed. “Please?” Mono begs, FINALLY shuffling towards Six. She presses close to the bars. Hoping her warm will transform to Mono to keep him alive.

Faintly she can hear Father gathering ceramic plates together. Drawers are pulled open and slammed shut. But diner upstairs with the family doesn’t matter. “Yes? Yes! Trophy!” Six echoes with a wide toothy smile. She doesn’t understand why Mono looks confused but that doesn’t matter. “Out! Out! Play?” She mumbles out pulling away and scuttling around her room.

The rug catches her claws and it causes her to trip and fall. It’s a loud thud and she can even hear Mono suck in air from the hit. Accepting her slip up Six just lays there on her rug.

How embarrassing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono curls up, for once during his time here in the cabin he is warm. With the pelt blanket and the feather stuffed pillow Mono is as comfortable as he can be here in the forest.  
> Six is on her bed snoring away softly, it's peaceful for now but sometimes the house shakes with movement from the Hunter.
> 
> How is he going to escape?

Six settles into the tall chair meant for her. It’s just a normal adult chair but it has boxes stacked on it for her to be even with the dining table. There she settles down at the wooden table, thrumming her fingers on her bowl. It’s faintly colored cream with little painting of a duck on it. Father is banging around in the kitchen down the hall. When she had first stumbled into the dining room Father had given her a pause. From the bruise on her chin to the bloody nose that slowly dripped blood. ‘What?’ is clearly written everywhere in Father as he set the table. Squeaking, Six scrambled towards her seat. ‘Rug! I tripped.’ She explained in her squeaking mess. Father stutters in his stiff movements clanking down the bowls and forks. ‘Clumsy.’ Is the final word as he grabs Six’s face and cleans her with a dirty rag.

It leaves her smelling like that rotting awful smell of blood but also the nice calming sent of blueberries. Father used to smell strongly of forages, twigs, dirt, berries and even the pine trees. But after that looong nap he had in the muddy waters he no longer smelt like family as much. Instead the air smelt rotten or like the type of cotton that’s gone bad. ‘Hungry! Hungry!’ Six makes sure to slam her palms hard onto the tabletop. Enough for Father to hear and to hurry up. He answers with a bang and a clash of bottles. Six doesn’t want to think about how Father changed.

_He didn’t!_

But he _did_ after those weeks.

Whatever, she thought gently reaching forward and clasping a hand around her older brother. His eye popped out a few months ago so now the stuffing inside is leaking out. She’ll have to find a new eye for Father to replace but it doesn’t matter, because he still allows her to hold his cold hand.

Dead hand.

Cold things are always dead.

Mono was almost cold.

I need another blanket. It’s a sharp thought that pangs her head, but she grumbles and wiggles in her seat. Not for me, but for Mono. She rather him stay nice and warm. Just like herself. ‘Here.’ Father says with a steaming pot of meat stew. Rabbit stew mixed with some veggies and lettuce.

(‘Veggies! Please!’ Six begged, placing a wild carrot in Father’s hands. He’s at his work bench skinning the giant rabbit they had snagged. ‘No, why?’ in the rough movements of her tired Father. ‘Tasy! Tasty! Mom liked?’ Six offered trying to convince him. It was for Mono’s sake. Even if she rather him consume more meat. ‘Whatever.’)

Father poured himself a bowl. In his plain white bowl. Father poured Six a bowl. Mostly meat and bones. Father poured Mother a bowl. It’s done with more care, so he doesn’t spill anything.

Then Six watches him pour a bowl into Brother’s bowl. It’s messy and everywhere because Brother would complain about “soup again?”. Grandpa got most of the veggies that Six had requested, which she opened her maw to complain about. Six snaps her jaw shut when Father stumbles to the next door room. To give Grandma her bowl. With a quick thought, Six scrambles out of her seat and goes for Grandpa’s bowl. Hurry, hurry! She had to hurry if she wanted to sneak a bowl to Mono.

(Six doesn’t understand why Mono had to stay downstairs during Family Dine Time. ‘Not family.’ Father said pushing Six back into her seat. Away from her brother who she was tugging on. ‘Why?’ she yawned out, baring her teeth. The bag on Father just turned away and that was that.)

They don’t have scraps left over during these days, so Mono would be hungry today if she doesn’t just _hurry up._ So, Six lurches forward, grabbing the bowl from her Grandpa. There she chirps a ‘Sorry Pa.’ and drops the bowl onto the stuffing of her brother. Without Father seeing she had pulled and heaved out more stuffing from his right eye socket. All of it was planning for this steal she’s going to do.

For Mono!

Knocking forks and rusty spoons out of the war path, Six slides down her seat and gently grabs the mostly-veggie-meat stew. The bookshelf near the table is where she hides the bowl. It’s also the same one she hid a bowl under.

(She was planning for this moment really, knowing Mono would be needing a bowl for when Family Dine Time happen. The question was—when Father was going to request it.)

Sitting up, after knocking her head on the shelf Six listened to the heaving and way Father wheezed something out to Grandma. Where she sat in the chair in the attic. There’s a creak and a rattle behind Six on the dinner table and Six snaps her jaws.

‘Get back on your chair.’

‘Fine! Fine…’

“Food! Food!” Six is shouting for once, it startles Father more then she thought when she walks down the stairway. She eyes the way he tetters to a stop and the flinch from her echoes. The way his bag head slums farther down his face and the thump of the rope around his neck gives Six all the words he meant to say.

‘Still? There’s no leftovers.’

But Six has a goal and to accomplish it she needs her door to stay _open._ “Water!” She corrected, maybe Father will lug himself back up the stairs and outside the house. To grab the bucket ~~they~~ Six uses for all types of water related things.

Father sags onto the wall behind him. His breathing stops for a moment or two before he does what Six wishes for. He stomps up the weak stairs and Six reads the in-between words as Father leaves to grab the bucket.

‘Stay. Do. Not. MOVE.’

Of course, Six doesn’t listen. Why would she when Mono is right there, and he hasn’t had anything all day? Once the back door is opened and shut Six scrambles forward, all in a rush to do what she needs. She stuffs a fork into the stew and she carefully bring the now lukewarm stew downstairs. The bowl is huge, and it makes it a challenge for Six as she stumbles down the crooked stairway. “Mono! Mono! Moo moo!” Six chimes out as she uses her back to push open her door. He’s still there, in his cage and pressed against the bars but Six catches the way he perks up at her image and the bowl. “Mm mmm!” She hums stumbling over the rug.

“Careful!” Mono calls when Six _ALMOST_ spills it over her floor. She sticks the thing under her bed, in the shadows and hisses a ‘SHHH’ at Mono when he goes to complain. Then she’s out the door, after giving Mono a little tug on his arm, back to where she stood before Father left.

It takes a little longer, after Six counted to the number 8 about ten times does he come in. He reeks of blood and mud as he places the bucket of rainwater inside her room.

Pointing at it Father says, ‘For you. Do it OUT of view from trophy.’ Innocent as the day she was born Six gives a toothy grin. She peers into the metal bucket then side eyes Mono before answering Father who waits by the door.

Rolling her wrists, she points to a spot out of range.

‘Yes, yes There.’ She says.

Father doesn’t move at first, but he points at another spot, one that he likes better before leaving.

He hits his fake arm on the door frame harder then yesterday and even more cotton puffs out and lands on the floor. Mono sucks in a breath of air. The door slams shut and that was the end of Family Dine Time.

“How am I supposed to eat?” Mono asks, watching Six set up what he thinks is a table. She’s using a small toy box to hold his bowl of food. Even if he doesn’t like the taste of meat, he’s hungry enough to swallow it tonight. “mmmmft.” Six answers before moving out of sight and moving things around. “WHAT does _that_ mean?” Mono asks again, almost everything she says just doesn’t make any sense **whatsoever**. “I know you can speak-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Mono is forced to scramble farther into his cage as everything is being rattled and shaken like crazy. Six is laughing loudly, before the sounds of rotting wood bends and creaks. The dust bothers Mono’s eyes and he is covering the eye holes in his bag. His bones feel like they’re being stirred and shaken like a bag of rocks as Six does…. whatever it is she is doing to his cage. The cage bends once more with a long and drawn out groan before Mono hears Six yelp and a thud.

Removing his hands from his eyes Mono sees that Six is on the floor. With a sharp cleaver next to her.

And the metal bars that trapped him.

Six had broken the framing for the metal abrs.

She freed him.

“How are you so STRONG!?” Mono gasps, crawling forward and outside the cage. What he wasn’t expecting was the drop from where his cage was sat so high. “ohmf.” Mono landed face first into the floor and he is 90% sure he popped the bones in his wrist.

Not broken. Just. Popped.

“Yep yee—eep.” Six babbles out sitting up from her place on the floor. She’s covered in wood chips and the cotton from the Hunter. Then she drags Mono over to his bowl not even _letting_ him get his feet under himself.

As Mono eats the bowl, he turns him back to Six. He hears the shuffling of cloth, a splash, Six laughing a little too much like a manic and then the slop of something wet hitting the floor.

Choking Mono hits his chest as the sudden appearance of Six broke him out of his meal.

(It’s mostly potatoes and carrots and lettuce. It’s wonderful and the most filling thing Mono had in weeks.)

When he recovers Mono warily eyes Six. Her black hair is wet and still mangled up like she didn’t even brush it but she’s clean from any dirt, cotton or dust. Six’s shirt is different too. For one, it _actually_ fits her tiny form. “Hey, I’ve seen that shirt before.” Mono points his bent fork at Six. It’s a shirt Mono saw on another kid in the Pale City.

Faintly he wonders if there was a reason Six suddenly owns the shirt here—that’s AWAY from the Pale City. “Oooo?” Six cooes out, before she shakes like a dog again.

“Can I wash my clothes too?” Mono asks, turning to see the bucket of water. Around the floor is Six’s old clothes. “But you’ll have too turn around—and can I borrow a shirt?” Mono asks not letting Six answer first.

She mockingly answers with a tense, “Sure ugh,” but follows through his request. She turns away from him as he cleans away the mud and other filth he wears. She does this by wildly drawing over her walls again in a blue chalk. She’s chittering and snarling as she draws poorly shaped rabbits in bear traps and birds being shot midflight.

(before all that she had tossed a sweater at Mono, without warning and it had hit him in the neck which made Mono fall to the floor. “Next time PLEASE warn me.” Mono begged after sitting up to see a grinning Six.)

Mono now wearing a sweater that’s colored pink watches in amusement as Six calms down on her final doodle.

It’s the Hunter shown on the floor with Six farther away from the doodle of him chasing….rats? Then she circles a tally marks around the doodle to finish it off.

(It’s the hunter when he tried to shoot himself to death—Mono realizes—it also explains why Six became so feral and wild. She had protected his body from anything willing to eat it and that’s how she became so animal like. So young and left to fend for herself.)

“Fa—her.” Six explains pointing a chalk covered hand to the doodle hunter. “Your dad?” mono repeats looking shocked. He didn’t wear his bag as his hair dried. Whilst the outside was rubbed completely with beeswax to not get ruin by water the inside wasn’t. Mono watches as Six lowers her arm, slowly eyes the drawing then lovingly traces over it again with the chalk. “huh.” Mono mumbles ruffling his hair.

“Fa—her, bang bang!” Six chirps out jumping to the set of birds she drew. Mono is laughing airily, unsure if it’s because of how adorable Six looks as she scribbles away like mad or the fact that he clearly remembers the loud gun shots. His gut is stuffed with butterflies when he recalls the shot gun Six’s dad wields. “Bang bang?” Mono chirps out. Or he tired to mimic the way Six did it. She stops her movements, whirls around and chucks the chalk at Mono.

It smacks him right in the jaw and he raises his arms to protect the tender spot now. “WHA—OW!”

“Shh! Shhh!” Six hisses out, grabbing ahold of Mono’s wrists and pressing it to his mouth. Mono is forced onto his back and he sucks in air when Six kicks at his gut. “stop it!” He whispers when Six does it again. “Fa—above. “Six rushes out in a breath that fans over Mono’s hair. It makes him lock up, staring wide at the ceiling as it creaks.

The two stay there for a moment, with Six’s claws poking at Mono’s wrists and his hands covering his mouth. Then like it never even happened Six lets Mono go.

She was holding him up slightly so when she dropped him he slams his head and shoulders into the floor. Hissing he rolls over and away from a grabby Six. “Sorry!” She mutters, rubbing a claw over Mono’s arm.

Flustered he just hummed a ‘okay!’ because now Six is moving his head this way and that for her own check over. Once she deems him still intact, she moves over to her bed. It’s dark and she did stay away from her room all day. Doing what? Mono isn’t sure.

(Six had laid on her rug for well over an hour until the grunting gargling sound of her father called her upstairs. After she struggled to open the door for another 5 minutes.)

“Sleep!” Six yells chucking a pillow straight for Mono. It smacks into his head and drags him down. Then the rolled up blanket hits it’s mark on his lungs and he can only gasp at the action.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's watching him shoot at the crows she scared off. He raises his gun, slowly and too sluggish to be a good hunter. He's getting colder and colder and even if it's still Father; Six feels sick. 
> 
> She loves him, as much as one does to a person who is slowly becoming not themselves.  
> Maybe it's time she left Father.
> 
> It's a thought that trails after Six when she grabs the dead crows. It started when Father started to turn himself into a trophy.

Mono is stirred awake by a frantic Six. She’s tugging and pulling at his blanket and legs. Not there, he follows the way Six shoves him behind stacked boxes. Along with the pelt blanket and the pillow. Crammed in the small space, Mono slowly wakes up more when Six hastily shoves his paper bag onto his head. Whatever has Six rushing to hide him keeps Mono from saying anything.

(Father is at his workbench. Prepping his tools and anything he may need when he makes a trophy. Ma isn’t here to critic the way Father never fully cleans the tools. Pa isn’t here to help Father with moving every heavy item and Mother isn’t here either. It’s just Father and Six. She drags forward a bear trap that holds a large ferret. It’s warped slightly, it’s eyes budging out too much and the mouth was pulled back in a smile.)

Mono shots out his arm, grabbing the claws of Six before she shuffles away too fast. She jerks in place and then glances at the door to her room. It’s early morning from what Mono can tell. “whats happening?” he whispers trying to pull Six closer so she can hear him. Six shakes under his glaze and under his palm. “tr—trophy.” She answers with a wide stance.

(“TTTT—VVV.” Her father speaks for once, shaking the ugly ferret free from the bear trap. It has little feet, almost having none. “Ah,” Six gasps before eyeing the dead weight that makes up her father’s body. He too was affected by the TVs around the forest. Six has been breaking a lot of them lately. The ones on the beach, by their home and even the ones just in the middle of nowhere. Anything to not farther harm her family.)

“trophy?” Mono mumbles, letting Six go from his hand. She looks scared and a little sad. But then she points sharply at Mono’s cage, then to the ceiling, to the cotton littering by the door then finally too Mono. “Me?”

(‘What’s it today?’ Six asks, watching the way Father’s glove peel back the skin of the rat. It sounds like fabric being torn but the way it jerks and sags shows Six it’s _ALMOST_ a trophy. ‘Child. Room.’ Father answers with a slam of his tools. It’s the fun part of taxidermy. But Six can’t get much into it now. ‘oh.’ She settles with unhappy with the thought of Mono being in the place of the ugly rat.)

“hide. Hide. Shh.” Hisses Six as she shoves another blanket over Mono. He holds the fabric closer to his body, trying not to move. But oh, when does he let go? Will Six come back and let him know when it’s save for him to ohhh—MAYBE DITCH THIS CABIN?

But then the thought of leaving behind a lonely Six clings to his head.

(Father stomps down the stairs and swings open the door to Six’s room. She’s clawing at a corner of the room, where a hole made by those _PESTS_ lays.)

She’s been chattier, kind of since Mono was freed from his cage. She also keeps tackling him whenever his “soft spots” are open. It’s all meant in good action, Mono guesses. Six is the only child that really touched him in any form. She holds his hand when he offers it and she give him bright toothy smiles too. How can he think of leaving without this feral kid?

(Six turns around, having mastered the act of pretending. She grumbles something out, shakes her head and eyes the hole she was playing with. She hopes this will work; she wants it to all work out in the end. After hours spent around Mono—the only other living kid she’s been around—Six can’t think of spending more hours with his body cold. When Father turns Mono into a trophy like he did the to the family.)

The two kids eye each other softly, Six in the form of worry and gentle love. The kind you’ll give a friend when they’re scared. Mono isn’t sure what look he’s giving Six back but she takes it with a gentle smile and purrs out a simple, “See you.” Before shoving him back into the blankets and scrambles away.

It’s okay, everything will be okay.

Six digs her arm farther into the hole in her room. Father is right there, breathing into the room and he’s examining the cages. Where Mono _used_ to be trapped inside of.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Snarl a warning to Father as he moves towards Six.

He stops in his fumbling.

She’s done this song and dance before. When she tried to keep a pet, but she got bored and hungry and bit into the thing.

‘Where.’ Father says, running a glove finger over Six’s hair. She stops her attempts at grabbing a nome and turns towards her father. She tilts her head this way and that way before grunting. ‘Where what?’

Father is crouched, as much as he could with one arm working normally and the fake one just limp and laying on the floor. ‘Him.’ He jerks a arm at the broken mess of Mono’s cage. Six eyes the thing, like it’s unworthy of her glance before snorting up at Father. ‘You? Nome?’ she offers, pointing at the hole she was messing with.

(please work, please work, please work, please work—)

‘No.’

He stumbles up, from his position and Father almost falls ontop of Six in his movements. She doesn’t move, after all Father isn’t all that heavy. He’s all stuffing and cotton by this point not like those days long forgotten.

‘No…?’ Six is standing up, her knees had cuts in them from her time chasing a nome. (to stuff the thing into the hole in her room, all too make this act even more real to Father.)

Father stomps his way out of her room. Tracking mud all over Six’s rug. His lungs rattle and wheeze, struggling to take in air as Father moves around. The sound grates on Six’s ears, trailing slowly after her father Six can only crave for the days Father _didn’t_ sound like that. Back when Father said more than the sounds he makes before he was asleep in the mud.

‘Escape?’ Six snags her claws on the pants Father wears. They’re forest green and covered in mud and blood. Animal blood. ‘You?’ Her father roughly shakes Six loose from his leg. Not looking at her when she hits the floor harshly. Another cut to her knees is added. ‘NO!’ she snarls out upset that once again Father didn’t check on her.

(She’s been growing upset. Each day that passes and with every pained noise coming from her Father doesn’t check over her less and less. No check overs when Six gets a rat bite. No band aid when Six cuts her shin on a sharp twig chasing a rabbit. No gentle rubs on her shoulders if she hit her elbow. It makes Six upset in her room, glaring at the door under the moonlight as Father stomps around outside.)

She stops trailing after Father when he reaches the shed outside the cabin house. He’s getting ready to track Mono. Grabbing the handle to his lantern and the gun he uses for hunting. Father is slowing his movements too, like he’s underwater and the way he swings the gun around and flicks on the light is all sluggish. Six stands by the doorway, staring as Father packs up. ‘Hunt, come on.’

‘Now?’

‘ **Now.** ’

Mono pulls the pelt blanket away from his mouth. Even if the blanket is super warm and super comfy, he can’t really breathe well. It’s been over an hour (Mono thinks) since Six tucked him into this cramped place and left. Stumbling out of the blanket filled hole, Mono trips, and lands on the floor. When he glances behind him he sees that his ankle got twisted in the sheets.

Grumbling he freed the ankle and got to work.

What work? Six isn’t here to play any games.

Thee door is shut and from what Mono can tell he’s alone.

In this cabin.

 _Now’s my chance!_ Mono stumbles forward, taking off the pink sweater Six gave him and goes to put on his own clothes. The coat, shirt and even the socks.

 _Now I can escape this scary cabin and get back on track!_ Mono pulls over the crate Six had used to open her door. With a simple jump and pull the door is swinging open. He’s grinning and smiling as Mono climbs up and onto the ground floor.

Down the main hallway, pass the front door entrance (where Mono stuffed a raccoon hat into his coat pockets) and right into the most _HORRIFIING_ thing ever.

He’s choking on his spit, lifting the paper bag to not ruin and then promptly shouts. “WHAT IS _THAT!? WHY IS_ THIS _HERE???_ HEELLLOoooo???” It’s a family posed around a dinner table. With glops of…. food? Meat? Scattered and spilled all over the wooden table. Horse flies take refugee here, feasting on left over guts and other things that lay in the plates and bowls of the seated family.

Mono’s gagging at the smell (which SHOCKINGLY doesn’t smell too strong) and shuffles around the dead family members. As he climbs up the bookshelf and into the vent leading next door Mono pretends, he doesn’t hear a wheeze coming from behind him and a hiss.

Sitting inside the vent Mono collects his thoughts and just about everything else he can think of.

Six lived here with her family.

It looked like she was the youngest, maybe born _right_ as everything started to go to hell.

The Hunter is clearly her father and he is still… _mostly_ alive to tend to his daughter.

As in bringing her food and water. Shelter inside her room in the basement.

The family members sitting at the table where killed somehow then got taxidermized. There was a older brother, what Mono _thinks_ is the mother and a grandfather.

Huffing, Mono pulled his coat closer to his body. It’s cold inside the vents and Mono can still hear the wheezing and hissing coming from the dinner room. ‘ _ARE THEY ALIVE!?’_ has Mono scrambling a little farther into the vents.

So, the stuffed family members may, or MAY NOT be still alive.

Six is **HIGHLY** likely the only thing still breathing and alive in this forest—other than Mono of course.

Something happened at one point, either before the family got taxidermized or afterwards but Six’s father attempted to kill himself.

That thought makes Mono’s hands shake harshly, with rage. He was planning on leaving a young Six in a forest full of wild animals to what? Die from her lack of survival skills? Live the rest of her live inside the cabin with her dead/alive family members?

(The image of a older Six, dressed up like her family flashes inside Mono’s head. He clutches at the bag covering his head and wills the alternate reality away. It’s a scary flash of a very _VERY_ older feral Six using her claws and teeth along with a gun to run the forest. Yeah. No Thank You.)

Ther’s muffled gun shots happening outside the cabin. It echoes around the trees and has the cabin shaking with each BANG. “Oh, that’s hmm,” Mono pushes onward, maybe getting lost inside the vents. (he makes sure to steer away from ones that sound like hissing.)

So, Six lived in the forest for a few weeks after her father’s attempt at life. Running around in the thickets and being a real feral goblin.

She made it through that time. Her father was brought back—somehow and now he uses her to chase the things they hunt.

How long will Six live like that? Until her father turns Six into the same thing her brother is now?

Shivering, Mono settles down at the end of one vent. It leads to a open space with a giant rug covering the spot he needed to jump down too. It’ll soften his jump but where does the door on the other end go? Is Mono _really_ safe to run to it and get away?

**BANG**

**BANG**

Then there’s the Hunter. Six’s father. Somewhere outside in the woodlands shooting his gun. If Mono _does_ make it outside the cabin, then he will have to tread carefully. There are traps scattered everywhere and then there’s Six.

Tiny, friend shaped, Six.

Whose been living this skewed lie of home.

Mono glances down at his socks, they’re colored a pale blue and a soft lavender color. Taken from a pile Six had in her room. He stole an extra two, because he wanted Six to keep her feet safe when they leave.

Would she come willingly?

Leave behind her stuffed family and her dying father?

For him?

**BANG**

**BANG**

**BANG**

Mono isn’t sure anymore. Suddenly his plans of escaping with Six seem fragile. If she says no then what? Ditch her here to be with a POSSSIBLE deranged father? Who—mind you—has a gun? Wrangling his hands together, Mono slums into the vent. He can still hear faint hissing coming from the other family members, but he’s all stressed out and pulled thin. This is the worse moment of his life!

**BANG!**

**BANG!**

Mono hopes Six will just take his hand and ditch this forest with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono isn't ready to be judged by Six's father. He's sure that her dad won't approve of the way he holds Six's hand and tries to hug her either.
> 
> He gets his answer when the gun is fired where he once stood.  
> Six is giggling in his ear which is a bonus to Mono.

The door Mono has been eye gets swing open. It’s slow and not fast and the reason behind it is because Six opened it. She has her arms clasped around a few bodies of dead crows. Most had their feathers gone but she still lays them down on the side. “Psst!” Without even thinking Mono calls out to his friend. She whips around, shocked and glances up at the vent Mono is now leaning out of. “hey!” He grins out, flustered that he’s practically ttumbling out of the vent.

She doesn’t look worried which is a good thing.

Mono rushes over to her, hands raised out in a hug before he stumbles and awkwardly brings them to Six’s claws.

He’s going to pretend that he didn’t intend to hug Six.

She’s none the wiser and gives him a lopsided smile.

“Is it safe?” Mono asks, leaning around Six to see outside the door. _AH so it DOES go outside._ Six rumbles deep in her throat, throws a glare outside the open door then kicks the dead crows next to her. “Hey don’t do that.” Mono is saying before he even knows it. He tugs her away from the crows. When he glances down at them Mono is miffed.

They have a wide shot inside their chest, leaving no room to really save the breast meat on the birds.

(he wonders how he knows this? Maybe it’s the cooking show he traveled through once in the Pale City. The one with the cook whose head was missing and the cables from the ceiling took over.)

“Gone.” Six’s whisper has Mono shivering. She had Whispered it as closer to his paper bag and maybe Mono should teach her personal space. “Who? The crows?” He asks turning to see a very mellowed out Six. She’s sagging her shoulders, idly swing their held hands.

Six doesn’t say anything for a while, only softly staring at the dead crows before she jerks her head inside the cabin. Where her family members sit. “Mmm, hmm.” She mutters out around closed lips before tugging Mono with her outside the cabin. “Ah, wait what about your dad?” Mono giggles out watching as Six easily traverse the forest floor. He wonders how Six became so good at walking through thick mud, and how she mastered where to correctly place her feet.

Ah feet! Mono needs to give her the socks to protect her pale skin.

But he’s busy stumbling and tripping as Six pulls him behind her with their hands still clasped around one another.

But he’s busy stumbling and tripping as Six pulls him behind her with their hands still clasped around one another. It makes Mono’s stomach flutter and he may be a _little_ lightheaded from the action. It’s just—no one has really given him an action of kindness (love? No Six doesn’t like him that way he’s sure of it) other than Six.

(his mother didn’t hold his hand gently like Six. Mono’s dad was just as bad too the most he would do was hum at Mono.)

(The kids at the burning building didn’t do any hand holding or hugging. Unless you were siblings otherwise, they just stared back. But here in this GOD-AWFUL forest he had a friendly Six, who held his hand back and maybe she’ll even hug him too?)

“oomf.” Mono fell forward, skidding his knees and legs into the dirt but his face smacked the tall grass. But he still held onto Six’s hand. She’s giggling softly and snorting like some pig. It’s a adorable sound that Mono likes. It’s so innocent and full of joy. At his downfall. “Where are you taking me?” he’s pushing himself up with his one free arm; Mono refuses to let go of Six at all costs!

Of course, Six doesn’t mutter out a answer, she just rubs a claw over his dirty knuckles and swings their clasps hands. She has a faint smile on her face and Mono smiles back even if he has his bag over his head. But what DOES answer Mono is a loud gunshot, it has him flinching into Six. She stumbles slightly from the bump but she doesn’t flinch. Clacking her sharp teeth, she has a smile before it fumbles into a grimace. 

“bad.” She gravels out, rolling her left hand (which is the hand Mono holds so he is also made to roll his wrist.) “Bad? How’s that bad?” Mono is a little worried—okay maybe he’s _more_ than a little worried. WHAT DOES SHE MEAN _BAD_!? Giggling, Six pokes at his mask, it crinkles under the action and she moves forward.

 _TOWARD._ The gun shot. Which is concerning, why would Six go towards—oh, wait she’s heading to her father. “Ohh, okay okay. I understand.” Mono says, pushing pass the tall grass.

He doesn’t understand but he will try for Six.

“WAIT I don’t think I’m prepared to meet your dad!” Mono shouts at one point. They’re at the edges of a swamp area, they stand on the port…. deck, Mono means. Six, sadly, let go of Mono’s hand and she hangs over the deck boards. She’s clinging to the wood like some sort of rodent but she swirls her head to look at him when he shouts. “What?” She whispers, scrunching her eyebrows. There Mono sees the other mole she has near her left eye. “Uhm, I—am meeting your father? DON’T GO in there! It’s dirty…” Mono is groaning, running his fingers over his paper bag.

But Six didn’t listen she let go of her hold and plopped into the muddy swamp waters below. She dipped her head all the way under before bobbing up like a mud fish. “Ughhh,” Mono whines, peering over and down at his friend.

She was so clean before!

Now Six is covered all over in muck and moss. “Come.” Six pulls her arms out, making grabby motions with her claws. Shaking his head, ‘no, no I _REFUSE_ to get dirty!’ he points down the deck, it bends around the swampy ground. “I can walk over—AHH _HHH-“But_ Six had lunged out of the waters and snagged his arms.

With some strength only Six owns she heaves Mono over her head and he splats into mud.

“My mask!”

Six bursts out into joyful laughter before dragging him farther under the mud.

Mono lets it, even if he should be worried that Six _might_ be drowning him. She doesn’t instead she drags him across the waters, over some cliffs (really, they were hills but they had to climb up so they are cliffs to Mono. When he asked Six of her thoughts, she makes a frown then shrugs.)

“Why did I have to go through the waters?” Mono groans, sagging his shoulders as he trails after Six. She’s laughing softly, points to the deck that they left behind and makes a poor attempt of walking super slow. “I’M NOT SLOW!” Mono whines out, rubbing his mask.

It’s all dirty now, so he switches out for the raccoon hat he found. “ooo,” Six cooed out closing in on Mono. “personal space! Please!” but Mono’s pleas were not listened too at all, Six hounds in on Mono and grabs his head. She lowers it to examine the new hat Mono wears. “Pretty.” Six repeats, patting the pelted hat then she squishes Mono’s face together.

She bares her teeth at him which makes Mono laugh nervously before they both freezes. Six doesn’t but Mono pretends that she does. There’s a fake yellow light shining on them and when Mono stiffly turns around, he is blinded by the light.

It lowers in a stuttering way before Six’s father is revealed in the shadows.

“uh ohhh,” Six says just as hell breaks loose.

The Hunter looks like some type of failed grim reaper as he cocks his shot gun and raises it to take aim at Mono.

(the boy that his DAUGHTER called pretty!)

Screaming, Mono dives into the tall grass, tugging the hand of Six.

She lets out a loud wheeze before they both disappear into the grass.

Dirt explodes everywhere were Mono once stood at. Pebbles hit Mono’s back but he bites back the sounds he really wants to make.

‘what the heck, whattheheck, whattheheck, WHAT THE HELL!?’

Six takes the lead after a few close shots, she claps her claws tighter around Mono’s hand as she drags him pass her Father. His lumbering around in the grass as well, waving his lantern around to catch sight of the two kids. Huffing and puffing as he tracks through the plants. Twice he almost caught Mono and Six with the light but Six ducks at the correct time and Mono follows behind her.

She knows her father, she’s been by his side as they hunted together so it was of course to Mono’s advantage to listen to Six. But then they meet a troublesome encounter. It’s the end of the tall grass and the Hunter is blocking their way from turning around and escaping that way. Six taps her hand onto Mono’s shoulder and points his eyes to a burrow between a tree’s roots.

‘There! That way!’ she says, eyeing her father’s light source, ‘Are you sure? What about him? What if I die?’ Mono rubs his hands together, circling his thumbs over his knuckles. Six doesn’t give him the comfort he needs and instead drags Mono out into the clearing and shoves him down into the burrow. He stumbles and trips into the rabbit hole, smacking his face into the roots but his instincts rush through him and Mono pushes himself farther into the burrow. Six is scrambling behind him and they hear two gunshots ring out where the entrance is.

“I DON’T THINK HE APPOVES OF MEEE!!” Mono sobbed out his palms are shaking and my GOD Mono feels sorry for any poor fool who wants to even meet Six’s father in the future. He hopes he doesn’t have too.

Six is laughing and she kicks her feet at Mono, shaking him out of his little mood.

He’s not crying or anything but Mono is shaken over the near death experience. “Huh?” He mumbles, rubbing the back of his hand over his face. Cleaning it of any dirt. “Hmmm, ok?” Six mutters, leaning over Mono’s back to rub her own hands over his hair sticking out.

“Yeah, maybe. I think. Your dad is scary.” He settles with before turning around and rubbing Six’s face back.

She allows it. Letting him clean her face and fix (trying too) her black hair. She grins and tugs the raccoon hat over Mono’s face and blinds him. As he fights the hat to let him see again, Six clambers over a wiggling Mono and takes the lead once he’s able too see.

She curls her hand forward, in a ‘Follow me’ type of way and steals Mono’s offered hand.

He smiles softly, preening under the kindness Six takes whenever he offers it.

‘Maybe she will come with me. Once we leave this forest.’


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono is grasping at his chest, hearing a crying sobbing Six isn't ideal to his tiny heart. It hurts seeing her curled up in the palm of her father and sobbing her eyes out.
> 
> He caused her this pain.
> 
> Maybe he can hug it all away?
> 
> He ignores the soft static he emits when he also starts to cry.

Six takes the time to show Mono the many things Father and her had caught and made into trophies. From the mother pig to her piglets (the piglets had rolled over and into a tiny ditch below the stuffed mother pig. Mono commented on it saying, “oh, they fell.” Before stepping around the whole thing.) and the giant moose that stood among the oak trees. It’s tall and imposing, with its dead eyes and sloping antlers. Here Six preens and puffs her chest out in the awed look Mono wears, when he walks up to the legs of the dead moose. The side is ripping so there’s a lot of cotton overflowing and flooding the hooves, but it does its job at impressing Mono.

“Did you help catch it?” Mono asks softly resting a hand on the fur. Six mutters and mimics the sound of a bird, before she makes a poor attempt at reenacting how she helped.

‘I nipped it’s ankles! And I tracked it! Father shot it.’

Mono scrunches his noses at Six’s actions. “Uhhh, I think you said you tracked it? Aaannd bit it?” Six takes the answer with a shrug. Good enough.

They move on, leaving the prized caught behind. For Mono’s sake as he keeps glancing around into the shadows and every sound the woods make. Six does the same action she did under the tree roots and closes her claws around his hand.

No longer is it cold.

Mono is nice and alive.

“uhm, ehh.” Six squeezes the noises out of her throat, stopping at a small drop off. There’s boxes scattered around the open area, with NO tall grass for her to slither into. Mono is next to her in a moment, worried she might’ve been hurt. But he sees the problem at hand. “Ah, uhm. Father, there.” Six is forcing the long unused words pass her lips, even if it strains at her throat and stings slightly. She points a claw into the woods to their far left, there her father is standing at. Still as the other trees surrounding him but he grips the gun like a pro and it is aimed towards the open land. “He…wants you, cold.” Six wiggles her hand in the air, turning it one side then tipping it the other way. “Dead?” Mono supplies, shaking like a leaf.

Giggling, “Yeah, yeah. Uhm, won’t let him.” She whispers, rubbing her fingers over Mono’s knuckles.

She likes Mono too much for him to become a trophy.

“thanks.” Mono squeaks out, still eyeing Father.

He’s just STANDING there in the shadows without his lantern light on. “Can—can he not see us?” Mono pales when Six shakes her head then shrugs. She points at herself then the muddy tracks they left behind before tapping the spot on her cheek. The same spot Father has a hole in his bag. “what does _that_ meeean??”

Six sticks her tongue out at Mono before leaping off the overhang. It’s time to get this show on the road!

To Mono its like being chased by the devil himself. But this time the devil is holding a gun and is solely wanting him dead, because to the Hunter’s eyes Mono is whisking away his only daughter.

Which, as Mono dips and dives behind boxes, he is sort of doing just that.

(The Hunter doesn’t miss his mark, firing at the boxes Mono hides behind before scrambling for the next still intact box. Wood is shattering in the air with each loud BANG that echoes into a dead forest. Six is laughing as she runs and leads the way. Mono is **_not_** laughing but screaming after each box is exploded.)

He is whisking away Six. For a better life! Mono swears as he starts to climb up the wooden wall of a shed? It doesn’t matter, he’s making a mad dash to climb up the wall and into the attic. Where Six holds her hand out to him with a grin. She pulls him behind her and runs across the attic with Mono in tow. She’s giggling and snorting at the running, even as her father BREAKS DOWN THE DOOR, _GOD HELP ME!_

“How is this funny?” Mono shouts out at Six, he’s tripped for the third time and the heavy breathing of a angry father has him stumbling up and running behind a too giddy Six. She only gasps out breathless giggles before shoving Mono into the gun shed.

As she locks the door behind them, does she start to worry. It’s a dead end and Father is _clearly_ unhappy with how Six is helping Mono escape. “Uhm, uhm…” She mutters hearing the angry stomping of Father outside.

He circles the gun shed twice, a third time before he’s banging on the locked door with the butt of his gun. “Oops! OOPS!” She shouts turning to Mono.

(‘SIX!! SIX!! Open the door!’ Father says with each powerful swing. ‘You’re in TROUBLE.’ He growls out behind the door. One of the logs chips away.)

“Listen, Six I’m sorry.” Mono grunts out jumping up and clutching at the other shotgun hung on the shed wall. Six warily eyes her friend’s movement, she knows what need to be done. Father won’t let Six get away with the escapee act she pulled, and Father won’t let Mono live if he gets inside.

(Another crack is opened in the door, it’s not enough to let him get the barrel of the gun through so he drops it at his boots. It hits the door and then his ankle, but he can’t feel any of that. ‘SIX!’ he tries again. He can see the top of her head, and the boy who is robbing him of his family.)

“I’m super sorry, I’m sure you love him a lot.” Mono gasps out, yanking the gun loose and free. It clatters to the floor, between Six and himself. When he falls to the floor, by the trigger he nervously eyes the way Six’s father is reaching inside the locked room and grasping for the lock. “I—we can just run! We don’t have to do this!” Mono tries, seeing how Six doesn’t move at all.

(He cares! _Does he?_ He still tends to her wounds when she trips in the woods. _He doesn’t, even he knows he’s lying about it._ He gives her a bowl of soup every time they catch something. _Six has been chewing and consuming raw meat now, he caught her more then once eating a rat or anything small enough for her hands._ Who is he playing? He failed as a parent when he tired to end it all that one day. _He didn’t think about his daughter when he pulled the trigger.)_

“I—okay.” Six mutters finally kicking forward. She knows how it must end. She was prepared for it, for awhile now. Pa has been telling Six to start running from Father. Mother hadn’t talked ever since Father stuffed the cotton into her head. Let’s not even bring up the angry words Ma yells from the attic or the sad way brother blankly investigates his plate. This was meant to happen. “Okay, it’s okay.” She tells a shaky Mono. He’s shaking as he holds the trigger.

The gun is loaded and with Six’s aim it’s ready to fire at the monster her father has turn into.

When he busts the door open, peeking his bag head into the doorway she gives the monster a wobbly smile. Before the ringing bang fires, she gives it a single, “It’s okay.”

**BANG**

Gasping, Six raises up from the floor. Has those guns always been this loud? Her ears are ringing, and her shoulders felt pulled. Turning her head, Six can see Mono laying on the floor as well, he’s shaking all over and he is slowly getting up also.

Slowly she peers over her thin shoulders and examines the gunshot in the door. ‘Oh Father,’ She sniffles moving to her knees. She wobbles towards the door and starts the motion of unlocking it. He’s not saying anything and Six is sniffling harder now. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay the Tall Man can’t control you now.’ She sobs out as she yanks the door open.

There he lay. Her beloved father crumbled under his legs and curled up at the base of the door. There’s no blood leaking out of his chest. Six’s ears is still ringing as she stumbles forward, claws outstretched as she falls into the open palm of Father. Even in his final moments Father was still reaching out to the door to wrangle the breath out of Mono. “It’s okay.” Six sobs out, pressing her face into the glove.

(Father stopped caring for Six. So even if he was shot to death by Mono and herself it doesn’t hurt too much. But in place of the monster Six still sees her father. The one that laughed and played with her in the beginning. But Father was slowly becoming a monster and Six _KNEW_ this was going to happen soon. Even prepared the death of her father stings harshly.)

Father has gone cold. Still and now he’s also just like the trophies he made. Full of cotton, cold and leaking the stuffing. Mono is hugging her backside, arms looped under her chest as she heaves out her grief. He’s warm and so comforting in his warmth. Twisting around Six clutches to his coat.

He smells of dirt and mud along with sweat. But he’s alive and not a monster.

“I’m sorry.” Mono mumbles into her hair. His face buried deep into her nest of a hair. ‘It’s okay.’ Six clutches harder at Mono. Even if she’s sobbing and has tears falling out of her eyes she isn’t upset.

Father was becoming a monster.

She didn’t want Mono to die.

So she picked this option. To stop Father and let Mono live.

“I’m sorry.” Mono repeats again with a crack to his voice.

Oh, he’s crying too

Six gives the monster one last sad glance over. To the hat that lays crushed under a bagged head. The green coat that flutters in the winds and the angry hand that is reaching towards her. Then she looks at the gaping hole in its chest. Where cotton and stuffing starting to pour out and into the grass and mud. “It’s okay, Mon—o.” She strains out.

Six grabs his hand, it’s also small but it closes around her much smaller hand perfectly, and guides Mono back into the gun shed. She makes a clear circle around the gun they used.

(it’s her grandpa’s gun. He used it for when Father was her age, young and so new to the world.)

Mono makes a strained noise but follows Six. She lets go of his hand (She feels bad when Mono’s hand trails slightly after her claws before stopping) and starts her climb over the open window. “Come on.” She coaxes out, reach over the window still to help Mono up and over.

She can hear the beach from here.

It’s a soothing balm over her heart ache and as she drags a sad Mono into the sands she crashes.

Emotions are just too much, so she accepts her fall into the sand.

It’s soft and not as rough like the dirt in the Root Forest. Waves lap at he hair and arms as she just sulks there. A tiny speak among the scattered remains of broken TVs and other wooden objects. “Six!?” Mono calls out, falling to his knees beside Six’s head. His pants are soaked in salt water as he hovers over her.

He felt shitty, like a terrible friend for coaxing her into shooting her father. (he must remind himself that Six looked at peace when she raised the gun barrel. Like all her life she was prepared for that gun shot.) “Mmmfffhh.” Six groans out, not moving even as the water gets stronger in each pull. “Come on, at least sit up so you won’t drown.” Mono moves his arms under her shoulder, she hisses at it, but Mono tugs her up and forward.

Together they sit at the edges of the sea waves. Letting their lower half get soaked and soggy. “I…it was going to happen.” Six rasps out, sniffling under the roar of waves. Mono let’s six talk, as much as her limited throat will let her. She never lets out another sob nor another teardrop.

(He wasn’t the same, after he stuffed Mother’s head. It’s been bad. There in the forest. Days with no food. Eating the raw meat and slurping up the blood to get her fill of water. It had to be done. Even if she was soaking in blood.)

“Do you want to join me?” Mono whispers, wrangling his hair of any water. He chooses to clean himself in the salt water, as much as he could with Six watching him. He rubbed away the mud and grass clinging to him. His curls are starting to reform, as he sits in the sand drying off as Six rolls around under the water.

(he lost his socks and even the ones he meant to give Six.)

“mm.” Six answers, standing beside Mono and shaking like a cartoon dog. Mono wants to laugh but the fresh image of a sobbing Six has his breath hitching. “Sure,” Six settles down at Mono’s legs.

They spend a few days by the beach, soaking in the rays of sun bouncing off the water and calming down from the act of murder.

(Mono thinks of Six in the woods. Chasing her happy memories and then himself. Skirting around in the shadows of trees and by the static fuzz of broken TVs.)

(In another reality Six is helping Mono kill her Father with no remorse. Snarling at the wooden door. In a TV flicker, she’s there curled up in the sand staring back at Mono through the screen before shattering it with a rock.)

(all of it was real and in a shatter all those realities are no longer existing.)

_Six watches the dazed way Mono spends the hours wonder the sandy shores. He stumbles over to the broken TVs and he’s pressing his palms against the broken glass. He mumbles words that sound foreign to Six. But then he’s off, staggering onto the next TV with hazy eyes. She can hear soft static coming from Mono as he drags his feet through the sands._


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six likes Mono, it's different when she thinks over it. It's not the same like the type she feels for her dead family, and it CERTAINLY isn't the same to anything she knows.
> 
> But it's warm and a fuzzy feeling that has Six always bouncing on her toes. She'll trust this new feeling for now. Even if Mono keeps slipping into this weird version of himself.
> 
> This one sings back any note Six hums at so what's not to like? So what if the static around Mono makes Six's skin feel numb?

Six is snarling and growling, making all the hostile sounds she can make. It just hurts alright! It’s been awhile since she groomed her hair. Mono tackled the task himself after they pushed the broken door into the ocean waters. He’s treading his nimble fingers through Six’s locks and when they get snagged by a knot, he (tries he really _does_ ) attempts to untangle the thing. It’s a long progress but it’s enough time to pass the hours by on the salt waters.

“I’m sorry! You just need to groom yourself more and then wouldn’t happen!” Mono cries out as Six flinches away from his palms. “Ow, ow ow!” Six snaps back but she still leans back towards him. Every rough pull Mono does he softly rubs Six’s head. Trying to tell her, ‘I care, I know it’s painful. ‘

He wonders if she understands just how much he cares about her.

“IS THAT A BUG!?”

_“HAHAHAH!” Six just busts out into laughter._

The crunching of the insect shell is all Mono hears after that moment. It was a black beetle but Six pounced onto the thing when it tried to fly away. Looking like a cat Mono saw once in the Pale City. She didn’t _have_ to eat the poor thing but whatever, Mono isn’t bothered over it.

Too much.

After finishing the grooming on Six (ah, she looks even more cuter with her hair fixed and one side pinned up with the rubber band) Mono started to work on his own self grooming. Using the water they’re surrounded by Mono cleaned off his coat.

His father gave him it with a scowl. Even the small hole his mother patched up is tended too with care.

Six is soaking up Mono, how weird he looks without the coat but also the movements he does everything with.

Next comes sticking his legs into the waters and scrubbing hard at the stains.

(berries, bugs, mud, grass smears and blood.)

Finally, he hesitates here, he removes the raccoon hat and gently places it in the middle of the door. It’s bobbing and softly rocking in tow with the waters. Mono didn’t want to lose another hat.

(he felt sad after he tripped and broke the toy TV hat he found. Then he was upset over the torn hat the nomes gifted to him after running away from a Viewer.)

Mono keeps his back facing Six; he can feel his neck growing hot under her gaze. “Uhm,” He fumbles with his words but presses forward. It doesn’t matter! It **_totally_** doesn’t bother Mono that he’s exposing his face and hair to Six.

He did the same thing when he was with the group of kids! Why would it bother him now?

(he worries that Six won’t like him face. His mother didn’t. Neither did the girls in that group. Okay maybe he’s just bad with the female group.)

Dipping his head lower, Mono starts his careful grooming. Afterall it’s hard to keep ones curls pretty in a world like this. Soaking his head (he hears a coo from Six) Mono gently runs his hands over his hair and gently—even softer than he was with Six—he detangles all knots.

He doesn’t have the correct items _needed_ to keep his curls formed, but he makes do with what little options he has.

(gel, cream, oil all the hair products his father unfortunately coughed money over for.)

(not because Mono asked or beg—but because his mother had curls so Mono just stole some from hers.)

Mono flinches at the first touch Six gives Mono. He refuses to look over his shoulder and at the girl he’s traveling with, what if it ends the same way like all other times. There’s a pang in his skull which he thought was from Six but nope. It was just another reality trying to crash into Mono and mold itself into this current show.

(no, no. Stay in your line, didn’t your teacher teach you that?)

(teach?)

Six his cooing at Mono’s ear, it is distracting him from the scolding he was giving the reality. It causes gooselings to form over his skin and another flush to cover his neck. “Six, back up your too close.” He gently scolds next, leaning forward away from Six.

She does listen to Mono, leaning away from his personal space but he claws are tapping and dancing patterns into his back and then his hair.

“oh,” He squeaks feeling ticklish under the claw tips.

(the reality presses forward, trying to fit itself in Mono’s world. Whilst he’s weak and soft. Under Six’s claw tips Mono sees an image of Six grooming her hair back in her house. But it isn’t the wooden logs of a cabin but the paper walls of somewhere foreign. She’s still herself but she’s humming a tune and she has a strange comb between her fingers.)

Six taps and skirts around his neck. She sees how his neck brightens from a blush and stops as she eyes a few freckles here and there.

(the blood rush has Six grinding her teeth. The craving to dig her canines into flesh is strong but she won’t do it.)

Forgetting the rush of Mono’s neck (to bite and just chomp into his weak spot) Six zoned onto the curls and twists his hair hands. “uhh, m?” She mumbles, twirling her finger around a curl It cradles her skin softly, and follows her movement easily. “My curls.” Mono strains out, still refusing to turn around. So far, its okay. Six doesn’t seem to mind how he looks as of now. (mono pretends that he didn’t feel the glaze of Six trail over his freckles like they were stars)

“curl?” Six repeats, still softly twirling each curl that stuck out of place.

At least she’s being gentle, Mono hummed, relaxing softly.

Oh, wait that was a mistake—next thing Mono knew Six threw all her weight at Mono’s back and dug her little talons deeper into his roots. “SIX!”

Even as Mono helped Six onto the beach (the other side of the Twisted Forest) his skull still tingled and fuzzed. From Six’s hands touching that far into his roots—he wasn’t used to other people messing with his curls.

Six isn’t treating him any different (however he catches the way she glares at the paper bag he now wears again. “Do you wait the raccoon hat?” Six answers in the way she spits at the sand. “Riiight.”) which is more than amazing!

On the sandy beach, Mono is fighting with the other reality once more. It worms and wiggles just below his eye (all it does is make half his vision blurry really) and has Mono stumbling slightly. “oh, Six I—I’m—” He’s stuttering, messing up his words. Tongue heavy and bones dragging him Mono, reaches one hand under his mask and the other one is held weakly to Six.

She’s a dot of blue in the sands. She’s far before that’s the only color Mono can see. Blue. Blue. Blue. Purple.

That purple is _not_ this reality but the other one.

“ok? Okay?” Six is harshly hisses it at Mono. “huh?” He replies squinting his eyes at the girl. She has her head tied up in a neat little bun. Not a strand of hair is loose or out of place.

Is this _his_ Six? Or another one Mono is allowed to see in this static mess?

Either way they’re both Six and still so adorable.

They’re molding into one being, which means Mono is slipping into his Static Walk. Has it been that long since he slept or did he not eat enough static left over?

“Oh, Six you still look nice in purple but ah—im going to uh,” Mono’s mouth mumbles and struggles to form around the info he _NEEDS_ to tell Six.

She’s wearing a purple type of gown, it has many MANY folds and this weird pattern of eyes and nomes in gold threaded into it.

But every time Mono blinks it escapes his eyes and he sees the Six who wears a dirty blue shirt with concern painted on her face. So does the other Six but her face has this weird white paint on her face as well. (its not done, Mono thinks as he still struggles, I ruined the processes via his Static Walk.)

“What?” The two say—Twelve? – as both dig their talons into his arms. Trying to keep Mono up straight. “I—I need uhm, the broadcasted left over…uh what d you call it?” Then he crumbles into the sand. Wood, floor and maybe he even sees the rug.

It’s all one floor anyways, whether it’s the sandy shores he _REALLY_ resides in or the wooden planks of the other Six.

Grunting, Six tumbles with Mono as well. He only falls halfway towards the sand before he does a weird twirl to avoid his tumble. (Six falls, so stunned that she doesn’t even have her fast reflexes to do what Mono just did.) When she sits up on her palms and knees Six sees how Mono is slouched into his shoulders. Head tucked close to his collar bone and he’s swaying.

He swings to a unheard rhythm that only he can see. His hands are closing and opening before he starts to emit the soft static Six caught sometimes. She jerks way then, backing up in the shore as Mono hums along to these unknown words.

It sounds **_okay_** but it’s not perfect like her music box.

“Moo?” Six whispers out, reaching a open claw to Mono’s coat. Her fingertips brush the edges of his coat and it’s like a trigger. Mono stumbles forward, legs dragging in the soft sand and he leaves behind a trail. “eh?” Six grins out as Mono dances along the waves.

At least it’s kind of like Mono is dancing to her. He’s heading for a broken TV that sits buried in the beach.

Six trails behind Mono slowly, stalking behind his swaying steps and soft TV like humming. “Ah! TTTT—VVV.” She snaps her teeth around the word, pronouncing it like her father showed her how in the shed. “MMMmmmmMMm.” Mono sings back; Six can hear the grin in his singing so she grins back.

Even as he stumbles into the air, arms circling around nothing like a hug and when he curls up and shivers for a moment.

**BANG!**

Even when Mono falls forward and smacks his face into the TV after all that.

_“Ugh,” Mono groans out, rubbing his face. It results in him letting go of Six’s hand but she doesn’t seem to care. This Six has a mask on her face. Not a literal mask but the type that makes it seem like she all pretends to care for those around her. Mono is not excluded from her act._

_She wears the purple gown— “Kimono.” She hissed—either way Mono thinks she looks_ Wonderful _in it._

_“What?” Six mumbles, tucking her hands under the sleeves. She still cares, deep down. Mono can tell. Even if she’s slightly older than him now, and sways to the ship’s movement in the ocean._

_“Oh, I think I’ll be leaving soon.” Mono mumbles, turning to eye the door they stand in front of. “So soon?” Six coons out._

Six jerks away, jolting up when Mono pushes and struggles under her. (Six had dragged the unconscious Mono away from the beach shores and into the shelter of a tipped over trash can. Where, much like a cat she just flopped onto his back and knocked out.) She flops over onto the trash, which is just empty clothes and suits. “Wha—?” Mono’s voice is back to being normal. “Yay!” Six shouts, raising her arms up and waving them around. She wiggles into the suit jacket she’s on top of, happy Mono is back again.

(She didn’t mind the weird humming Mono kept singing this whole time. It sounded OKAY.)

“Six?” Mono groans out, rubbing his face. The paper bag was still on him thankfully. “Yeyeyeye, EH!” Six kicks her legs, wanting to burn the rush of joy she felt.

One kick hits Mono in the hip and he rolls over with the motion.

Whatever this is fine. It just means he had to deal with the two realities melding into one for a moment. Passing through each other and only effecting Mono as they rushed by. “Ugghhooofff, you never get use to it.” Mono rants, moving to stand up.

He feels full, so he might’ve had some left over static somewhere. When he watches Six scuttle after him Mono wonders if Six helped with it. (his face throbs and suddenly, no he doubts she really did help. Maybe she tripped him.)

“Skoole.” Six struggles to copy the words and vowels Mono had just said. “Sko͞ol.” Mono repeats stressing out the word for Six to properly say. He helps Six wiggle pass the chain-link fence, she giggles “no” out and then gently pokes his side.

Snorting, Mono shakes his head and tries one more time. “Schooool?” He drags out the O and even lifts his mask over his mouth to show Six. “Oooool?” Six echoes leaning forward a bit.

Shoving his mask back down and leaning away (Six mimics it too—trying to remember ‘Space! Mono is like Brother, both just really love their space FOR some reason.’) “Close, I’ll take it.” He settles with, holding out his palm.

She doesn’t hesitate to snatch his tan palm. Curling her claws around his fingers and Mono believes its fate.

How her fingers slip between his own perfectly and how Six gently rubs circles into his knuckles.

Okay, maybe Mono fell a _little_ too hard for this feral girl.

She smiles brightly before tugging Mono forward.

_Maybe she did too?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono stumbles into a session happening. He can hear the chalk screeching on the chalkboard and it's the one sound Mono is covering his ears for. It's grating and oh so annoying and oops
> 
> Did the teacher spot him scutter under the desks? Why did she stop her teaching?

“No, no I don’t _like._ ” Six is groaning, leaning her head between Mono’s shoulder blades. They and snuck into the school building and now wonder the empty hallways with flickering lights. “Scary?” Mono questions stopping at a uplifted board. He feels Six shake her head, ‘No, duh.’ As Mono trails his eyes up and towards the trap bucket. Everything is rigged and ready to just smack into Mono.

(he wonders if it can kill him?)

Shuffling them both out of the crossfire, Mono triggers the bucket and watches the bucket swing down. Six has her arms circled around Mono in a backwards hug and she just REFUSES to let him go. He tired already, tugging at her hands and even swaying her off. But she clings on and digs her talons deeper into his coat.

At this point Mono just accepted the clingy Six.

“Soooo, you’re not scared. Then what is it?” Mono tires again moving forward once the bucket stopped swing back and forth. Down the hallway they shuffle, lights flickering and passing by stomped out fires. “LEARNING!” Six groans out, sagging her weight heavily onto Mono. His laughter echoes down the empty lock filled hallway as he stumbles forward. He almost falls but he skips a step and catches the fall.

(he wonders if Six was never homeschooled by her family and that she hated it.)

Six is giggling into his coat before dragging her feet. ‘Nooo, don’t go farther.’ She thinks behind her soft grin. But then she’s snarling and clinging harder at Mono.

He’s also freezing as they both see SOMEONE standing at the end of the school hallway.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Six all but screams out and it scares the other kid away and deeper into the school. “Six, don’t swear!!!” Mono cries out.

After many, MANY traps being triggered and Mono dodging them all Six and him encounter another child.

Thankfully Six doesn’t scream again but Mono hears her soft hitches. ‘Ugly, ugly.’ Six mutters in the way she stiffens her spine. ‘WHY do they have giant heads? Like that? Ugh,’ She’s shivering narrowing her eyes.

This time it’s a girl whose sitting in the hallway. Chalk in hand as she scrambles eyes onto the floorboards. She’s giggling like mad and cackling some song?

Now Mono has been through many _many_ realities and most had languages even he had too learn. But whatever this child is saying is lost to Mono. ‘Huh, what?’ he switches over to the wild, feral language Six taught him. She zones in on the movement, her pupils widening and contracting. ‘Ugly, nasty.’ She relays to him.

‘Not useful.’ Mono deadpans, shaking his head side to side.

He eyes Six’s evil smirk before she huffs. ‘Garbled. Stupid. Like prey.’

‘Sure?’ Mono puffs back, before looking at this glass-like kid.

_Why is her head so bobble like?_

Shuffling forward, Six let’s Mono free from her grasp to warily see what will play out. What she isn’t aware of was the other school kids tettering closer and closer behind her back. Why would she notice them when she’s worried this CRACK headed chick like harm Mono?

Mono only gets to lift a hand before a locker is slammed open and dropped onto him. “HEY!” His shouts are echoed inside the metal space and Mono bangs on the edges.

Six lunges forward, to help Mono but hisses as two….WEIRDOS stand on top of Mono’s box. They taunt her, waving their wrists by their ears. Six crouches low to the floor before she’s ranked backwards. It has her ankles fumbling for the ground and she snarls as three other UGLY fucks try to hold her down.

When she lashes out and she hears a glass like shatter does Six let out of gruff laugh. Another swing of her leg and there goes another poor soul that tried to jump her.

The little freaks surrounding her mutter and clank at one another before the boys above Mono’s box leap down and help drag a feral Six away.

(they wonder if their info is wrong? This thing is wild and violent just like them and sometimes it snarls a word they understand.)

(Six is busy trying to kick this one ugly fucking kid in the jaw. She wants to see them tobble over their skinny little ankles and crash into the floor harshly. Shattering their dumb little empty heads on the floor.)

Heaving the locker side up, Mono quickly rolls under and lets the heavy metal slam beside his arm. “Six?” he calls out into the empty hallway. Somewhere above him he can hear a wild type of snarl. ‘There she is!’ He thinks moving to stand. He stills his movements when he hears a cut off scream, glass breaking and then this deep evil type of laughter afterwards. ‘Yeah, that’s Six.’

Then starts Mono’s long and suddenly lonely journey through the school. Tripping the traps strung up by these Bullies and even smashing a few of their heads. So what if Mono had fun luring them into their own traps and watching their heads cave in. Pieces of their head and face shattered over the floors, tiny bodies laying still.

‘Is this murder?’ Mono wonders watching the fifth bully have their head shattered.

‘No, I don’t _think_ so.’ Mono settles with pushing a ugly looking boy out the window. When he leans over the window still Mono can see the white empty inside of the bullies’ head all over the outside floor.

It’s raining outside.

‘Not my fault if they jumped Six and me.’ Mono agrees with grabbing ahold of a pipe. ‘They were asking for it when they stole Six and I’m just cleaning up after her.’ Mono lets out a shout of joy when he just _barely_ smashes the bullies’ head in mid leap.

He hopes Six is doing well. So far, Mono is doing okay even if a few bullies do manage to tackle Mono into a locker. After a little scuffle between himself and a bully (there’s some other students too timid to join the attacks but they’re cheering on with their higher pitch voices) Mono is more then a little sore. He’s broken _SO_ many heads it’s starting to become really dumb. Heaving out breathes, Mono switches out his mask for another one. It’s the rain cap he found just outside the schoolhouse. Brightly yellow and it allows Mono too to suck in air easily after each brawl with a bully. Those who cheer on the fights, encouraging each win hand Mono random objects.

Broken pencils. Pages with eyes drawn over them. Fabric and even their poorly graded schoolwork.

‘How do you get 2 plus 2 WRONG??’

Mono is pulling at his curls when he saw that one. He throws all these winner prizes out the open windows every chance he can get. They’re useless and NOT from Six at all.

So why would he keep them.

Mono presses forward in his yellow rain cap, following the sounds of something rubbing on a chalkboard. Maybe he will stumble into Six? Ruining a room with broken bullies surround her?

Whatever the case—Mono **_WILL_** get Six back.

Even if he has too murder.

Six is NOT having a fun time. She’s groaning and slamming her head into the desk table. The freaks tied a corse rope around her frame and have her trapped to a chair. It brings back memories of when she got in trouble back home, ‘Too the Corner!’ her mother would say after Six broke another vase.

The dainty face girl is leaning forward, toward Six and she chops off more of Six’s hair with the safety scissors. ‘No!’ Six huffs out, rolling her claws under the rope. Another ugly freak girl is grabbing the cut off strands and dips them into paint before throwing it at the wall.

Two boys are nearby, muttering to themselves and forming a plan. A cold hand yanks Six’s head back so the plastic scissors can cut more strands off. ‘Mono’s hard work!’ Gone with another snip.

‘I’m gonna crack your head open you bit—’

“GAH!” the ugly girl that was dipping the cut off strands gasps out; it halts all the other fake kids in the room with Six. It’s high pitch like a mouse and Six wonders if her teeth can cut through their necks like a mouse.

They’ve got silent, before they rush around the room. The girls are kicking over the buckets and the boys are roughly lacing up Six.

They do a decent job at avoiding her deadly swings but two get the action she bestowed on them. As they shatter on the floor and the tabletop, Six hisses out and sobs.

Her hair is no longer a even cut, instead one half is cut short below her jaw line and the other is in terrible layers. She snarls and lunges for another kid as the rope around her legs drag her over the floors. It cuts into her shins as she drags the boy over to her mouth and she **BITES.**

Nothing happens at first but then the neck cracks and when that happens, she lets go to slam the boys head into the doorframe they pass by.

The others are freaking out, waving their thing wrists and having the ones who drag Six hurrying faster.

Into a bathroom Six, goes where the bullies watch Six get raised up by her tied ankles. They start to laugh even as Six wrestles one into the air with her.

‘I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. I’LL SMASH YOUR SKULLS ALL OPEN.’ Six snarls out letting go of her hold on the bully. Down they fall and into the tiled floor their skull is popped open.

The bullies scream and some laugh under all the sound Six sobs and she dangles in the air.

She just wants the warming comfort of Mono.

Even as blood rushes to her head and she starts to feel lightheaded.

‘I miss you.’

_‘Look!’ Mono says, bringing a toy forward, it’s wooden duck. Six sneers down at it, before she taps one claw on the black eye. ‘Food!’ she states, she grins in the way Mono sags and sighs. She loves messing with Mono. Seeing the emotion, he expresses whenever she gets something wrong._

_She’s smart and she knows he was trying to get Six to play games with him in this empty school room._

_‘No, I—it’s a duck.’ Mono tires again offering Six the wooden toy. She drags her claws over the work before it brushes over Mono’s arm._

_He shivers and gives a out a giggle. He’s ticklish under her featherlight touches. ‘Duck, Duck, goose?’_


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono swings the axe down, it crushes and shatters one head. He's panting and growling under each intake of air. Static is filling the hallway, the students warily eye one another.
> 
> Mono doesn't let them think twice about taking away Six. He snarls out loudly, racing forward and with some strain he arches the axe over head and BANG.
> 
> Another head shattered in the school.
> 
> He feels bad for Mono. Once this Static Form fades Mono's throat is going to hurt like HELL.
> 
> But he'll enjoy bashing the heads in of those bullies. Like a twisted game of whack a mole.

_“You shouldn’t be here again.” Six mutters, leaning forward. She wears her yellow raincoat and it squeaks as the rubber rubs on one another. (how does Mono know it’s hers? Since when has Six owned anything yellow? Mono doesn’t recall this.) “What do you mean?” Mono asks, kicking his legs. He’s sitting outside of Six’s house, in her messy, overgrown back yard._

_She’s giggling, showing her perfectly normal teeth before humming. “Well, you rarely stay this long.” She answers, pushing a plastic cup towards him. It’s starting to rain, and Mono didn’t bring anything to protect himself._

_“_ That _doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be here; with you.” Mono huffs taking the cup. For a moment his vision blurs and he is holding a broken pipe. When he blinks again it’s just the cup he holds._

_“Yeah, sure. Wait till my dad wakes up.” Six laughs, kicking her rain boot at Mono’s leg. “Oh, that explains it.” Mono’s hand shakes for a moment._

_This…. this isn’t right._

_This isn’t Mono’s Six is it?  
  
_

_She’s normal in the sense that she can talk like any other kid. She has a backyard with a fence around it, with the sound of the city around them._

_This isn’t right._

Six jerks awake sometime later, she’s not sure how long she was blacked out for. The only thing she knows is that the stupid school bullies have filtered back into the room. They’re loud and boisterous under Six.

(She feels like a prey trapped in one of the snares her father once set up. Strung up and dangling in the air.)

Each bully wears the same school standard outfit. White shirts, blue pants, or blue skirts. Shiny black shoes with their hair nicely tucked in. Some girls had this band keeping their threads away from their black dead eyes.

None.

Are.

Mono.

Six is gasping, the blood rushing to her head is making her feel like there isn’t any air inside her lungs. Is this how father felt? When he laid in his own blood and dirt?

She’s clawing at her throat, leaving red marks before she tugs at her blue shirt.

Its too much. It’s not enough. It’s too much. It’s not enough.it’snotenoughit’snot **enough it’s not enough—**

Under her struggles, the bullies throw paper balls at one another.

Six rips a hole into her collar; gasping loudly.

One of the bully’s screech and then there’s a sink broken as others laugh and shout.

Six kicks her legs, they tug and yank on the rope keeping her up.

There’s a sound of a board creaking, then a metal clank echoing.

Six can’t gasp any more air in her lungs.

Blood rushes forward and Six is knocked back unconscious.

_Mono holds Six’s hand. They have the same sized hand this time, even if Mono knows this isn’t_ his _Six. She looks confused as Mono tires explaining what he means. “Maybe that’s why your mom sent you out of town.” Six supplies, shocking Mono still._

_There’s a muffled sound of someone walking around the pavement with heels on. When he looks around only them are here in this rainy night. “Huh?” He asks, straining his ears. (he’s in a Static Walk—which isn’t good because he was supposed to be awake and rescuing Six. The real Six.)_

_“Yeah, maybe you forgot?” Six nods, bringing a claw to her chin and taps her pale skin._

_She’s just as pretty as_ his _Six. So it’s normal that he flushes and glances at the pavement. It’s intact and not broken by ravines. No cracks formed by fallen buildings._

_Are all Six’s this pretty?_

_There’s someone walking around and Mono’s heart speeds up because of it. For once it isn’t caused by Six. “Oh, how long ago was this?” His coat is getting soaked by the rain. This Six in front of him swings their hands once before tugging Mono forward. “About 3 years ago, I think. During my final years in middle school.”_

_Wait—how old is this Six?_   
  


_“It was when I turned 12. Remember?”_

_Mono feels a breath puff over his neck, he shivers but refuses to look back. Why would he because_ no one is there.

****

_“Right! Sorry, I must’ve missed your birthdays.” Mono strains out. He’s slightly worried that something is going wrong with his Static Self. **They** both know to avoid the Hot Flashes, why is Mono feeling something breathe down on his neck and the impending threat of being ripped away from this Six?_

_She’s talking about something; Mono watches the way her mouth moves and forms the vowels needed for whatever she was saying._

**_Breathe in. Breathe Out. Click Click Click. Slide. BAM. Click Click._ **

****

_They’re all loud noises and it makes Mono stumble and almost trip. Six pulls on their held hands and saves Mono a face full of pavement water._

_He can see her face clearly in this reality._

Six tosses the oversized shirt at the bully keeping guard. It smacks the back of his head and he clashes into the tile floor. The blue shirt she wore is thick and heavy enough to cause the damage she wanted. Her white tank top is now the only thing keeping her warm in this cold bathroom. Snarling she tries kicking again and even swinging her arms.

She’s been passing out and waking up for awhile now. Each time she has Six always feels weak and shaky.

(she ignores the few times she spent her time awake sobbing and crying out for Mono. He never answers back.)

Her arms are shaking, and she lost feeling in her right leg. She needs to _get out right **fucking now.**_

Swinging her weak arms behind her head before moving them forward, Six is now rocking back and forth. It’s not enough for her to curl up and reach the knot that keeps her dangling high in the air.

(Mono is clearly doing something inside the school. Six can hear it in the dumb talk and movements the students do. They’ll all fast and panicky like a caught rabbit.)

Her pinky snags on the rope but it’s not enough. Six falls back, her lungs are stinging in pain and she’s lightheaded again. “MONO!” She sobs out, tears making her eyes blurry and her salty teardrops run over her skin. They pitter onto the bathrooms dirty floor. Six is back to sobbing. She can’t even raise her hands up to cover up her emotions.

There’s a scuffle outside the bathroom and in floods the bullies once more. They push and shove one another. Hiccupping Six cries out for her only friend once more. Under the other kids her strained yell goes unheard.

In this room, everything is so loud.

(“Mono.” “Mono.” “Mono.” “Mono!” ……” Father.”)

_Raindrops leak and follow the curve of Six’s face. Mono lowers her raincoat hood more, just too see her pretty face. She stares back with her golden eyes before she gives Mono a small smile. Her two beauty marks are still in the same spot._

_One by her left eye the other on the right edges of her mouth._

_“What? Forgot my face already?” Six teases out, squinting her oval eyes._

_Mono stumbles over his words. Do all Six’s have oval eyes? How unfair is it that it makes her face look even more wonderful. “I—I well I mean, I just wanted to see—but I do know,” His poor attempt at saving face is ended as Six throws her head back and snorts out a laugh._

_“Yeah, uh huh Mon—oo.” Six snorts out, pushing him away._

_But she doesn’t pull up her hood. She just ruffles her hair before holding out her palm._

_Mono’s eyes blur and his vision becomes hazy as he accepts her kindness. “I know I’m pretty cute. But Father wouldn’t like too hear you say that out loud.”_

_As she leads Mono home (he has a home here? It’s not the same one in his reality however.) the pathway they take grows warmer and hotter. It’s all in his mind and WHAT THE HELL IS HIS STATIC SELF doing **GOING** towards danger?_

_“H-he wouldn’t?” Mono gasps out, flinching back as a drop of rain lands in his eye. (it’s not rain, he’s sure he heard something shatter.) “Of course not! I’m the **ONLY** daughter,” Six snorts out not bothering too see if Mono was okay._

_(More raindrops hit Mono’s face. They sting and burn a bit. When he reaches a hand up to rub them away his fingertips come back bloody.)_

_Six’s hair slowly becomes wet as they wonder down the block. There’s movement in the shadows casted by trashcans and the trucks parked. She doesn’t seem worried and continues to talk._

_“Father would wrangle your neck if he saw you lowering my hood. Even Mother says I shouldn’t let you too close.” Her words are soft but every ‘s’ in her words become static filled._

_(Mono flinches as something grabs ahold of his arm. It has deadly intent because he can feel it twisting his coat sleeve and the bruises surely to form afterwards. What’s happening outside of this other reality?)_

_There’s a thud from the edges of the shadows. Mono eyes the spot the sound comes from. They pass it and another thud is heard behind them. Mono can feel his static self-snarling before the strain of overworked muscles being pulled into a swing._

_His arm jerks with the movement but he doesn’t ACTUALLY make the movement in this world. Six looks back, her golden eyes look like they’re glowing before he forces out a smile. “Sorry, my arms are just sore.”_

_She accepts it. “But I don’t mind you being close Mono.”_

Snarling Six swings her claws and slaps the spit ball away. This time around the bullies started to throw items or spit rolled up paper chucks at her. Like it was a game of who can hit the feral girl high up in the air?

An ugly looking girl wears Six’s blue shirt. It’s overly huge on her and it makes her stumble into her friends. They giggle back before yanking it towards them. ‘Mine!’ they all say in the way they toss the ugly girl to the floor and kick at her.

They’ve been fighting over her shirt for awhile now. Different kids would wear it then they’d get kicked to the floor and have it taken away by another greedy brat.

‘STOP!’ Six growls out stopping a toy doll from hitting her skull. When she correctly catches it between her claws every bully in the room makes a wild scramble.

She has a weapon now and like the saying goes—

**Like Father, Like Daughter.**

—Six never misses a shot. She winds up her left hand and then throws the toy doll. It slices through the cold air and hits bullseye. The boy crumbles to the floor, limps all tangled up and his head now missing.

Overall, the screeching Six gasps in air. Her stomach growls. Her left arm is shaking uncontrollably, and her nose is bleeding.

Six looses all her fight and fire. It burns lowly and flickers.

Another hour strung up.

(“mono…mono…mono…. mon—o.” There are trip wires being snapped somewhere close by. Six doesn’t hear it over her soft sobbing. The only comfort in this ruined bathroom that is her cage is muttering his name. When no one answers her, she coos out for her father. He always answers.)

(It’s a under ending loop of sobbing out two names. One name; no answer. Other name; no answer. Then Six is blacked out. It’s a loop of waking up, being pissed. Crying her eyes out and then calling.)

_“hey are you okay?” Six stands behind Mono. He stands in front of ‘his’ front door. The grass is trimmed to perfection. “Uhm,” Mono twists his index fingers as he eyes the door. He can hear the static hum of a news channel and a TV turned on inside. “It’s okay.” Six laughs, the rain on her faces makes it appear as if she’s been sobbing for the pass five hours._

_Her words are fuzzy and sometimes they fade away into nothing. Six skips up the front porch stairs, her boots covered in grass and dirt._

_As she talks, the words never heard by Mono, he can hear sounds from_ his world _leak in. Mono hears the bullies. Their high-pitched squeaking and their heavy breathes as they run around Mono._

_Her soft palms grab Mono’s face and Six is rolling his cheeks around. She forms a smile on his mouth before grinning and saying something._

_There’s the crash of something being broken and Mono hears himself let loose a loud snarl. But he_ DOESN’T _make the sound here. In this static filled reality._

_(he flinches when he hears it. Did he really make that sound?_ His _Six would feel proud no doubt.)_

_This Six just laughs when Mono flinches, thinking it was from the cold hands she has. She pulls away before knocking on the door for Mono. Static hum gets closer and closer there’s shadows dancing under the gap by the front door casted by the light from the TV._

_It’s all hazy and blurry but Mono can see something blue in front of him. Oh, wait! That’s_ HIS _Six! She wears that color of blue shirt!_

_Grinning, Mono reaches forward and claps his hand around Six’s soft hands. She squeezes back. “It—It was wonderful seeing you again!” Mono rushes out, pass his lips that feel cold from the rain. He can taste ceramic dust and even blood in his mouth._

_Six is blushing slightly, she glances away before focusing back on Mono with a hum._

_“I hope we can see each other again.” He settles with, rubbing shapes into her knuckles._

_They’re soft._

_Untouched by hardship._

_Not one bruise or cut on her hands and arms._

_She’s smiling at Mono. There’s someone walking towards Mono, where the front door is at. Six lunges, her arms circle around Mono’s shoulder and she pulls._

_She’s cold and fuzzy when Mono returns the hug._

_“mono…. mono…mono…”_

_He laces his hands together when he pulls Six as close to himself as he can. She’s saying something, it makes Mono feel happy and warm even if these words aren’t meant for him._

_They’re meant for him, will be meant for him and always are meant for him at the same time they aren’t for him._

_“mono…. mono…mono…. mono_.”

_When he closes his eyes shut, taking in the soft flurry feeling of the alternate reality Six becoming untuned in his grasp; Mono can see the blue color drawing nearer with each step ‘his’ parent makes on the other side of the front door._

“mono…..Mono….Father…Father…”

_He grimaces at the sight. It’s a porcelain doll, whose face is forever in a twisted grin. Crooked teeth on display as she stumbles forward. The doll had almost broken her glass-like head when she jumped from around the corner bend._

_Mono snarls as she races forward._

_That was Six’s shirt._

(“Of course, we’ll meet again! Now that you’re back in town again, Mono. I hope you got over your fear of the dark during your time away from me! Because Father isn’t going to be happy if he sees us out during the day! So, let’s meet up by the park—the one with the river bend. At night.”)

Mono slams the axe down harder then he needed too. He’s snarling and huffing out deep breathes. His arms are strained, and his knees are wobbly.

But Mono stands tall in the hallway.

Faint whispers of the other Six trail over Mono. They ghost over his ears and it surges him forward. He steps pass broken shards that have sharp pointy ends. He kicks at the shards that have painted eyes and other facial features on them.

Mono watches the way the shard skid on the floor leaving deep marks in the fragile glass work. They all deserve the pain Mono brings onto them. He agrees with his Static Self; the one that went on a rampage and had Mono snarling like a feral dog.

He can feel the strain on his throat from all the animalistic sounds his Static was making.

‘Ouch you did a number on my throat.’ He transmits into the signal waves.

‘Yeah, yeah whatever.’ It pings back before the connection is turned off like a TV.

“father….Father…” The words are still echoing into the now empty war zone. (the hallway floor is littered with broken student heads. All shattered and completely unfixable.)

Forcing his muscles to work— _move just a little faster!!—_ Mono stands at a bathroom door.

He can hear the sobs Six is making. It’s so silent inside the room. What horrors did she have to endure here?

(mono get’s a static image of the strands and clumps of hair forming a ugly painting of someone tall in one room. He remembers snarling before the memory is taken from him.)

“Mono…mono.” Six is repeating two words. Mono pushes his legs forward once more, even if they wobble and shake under strain. “Six! Six I’m here!” He calls back.

(Her heart jumps in joy, her lungs constrict under pressure. Six lets out a sob, her arms reaching to the floor where she can see the brown blur of her friend. ‘He answered! He’s here!’)

_There’s laughter between the two. They tumble out from under the bed; Mono kicking and trying to escape his chaser. Six is built for chase, so she tackles him into the floorboards. The school room they play Chase in is devoid of anyone else._

_She’s breathless from soft laughter and Mono is giggling as he wiggles free._

_He stands up, twirls around to face a grinning Six before he makes a movement in the one language she knows._

_‘Round two?’_

_‘I’ll win again.’_

_“Round three then?’_

_‘Sure, anything.’_


End file.
